Amy Kaufman
Principal
Amy has demonstrated success in market research, organizational strategy, business and facilities planning, branding, and operational implementation. She has worked with institutions of all types and sizes, including museums, universities, parks, botanic gardens, visitor centers and heritage sites. She collaborates with government agencies, architects, developers, foundations, and institutional leaders to integrate a variety of goals and perspectives.
Amy launched AK Cultural Planning in 2015, building on a 25 year career that has included museum budgeting and operations, market research, project management, and strategic consulting.
During her 12 years at Lord Cultural Resources, Amy played a leading role in planning new institutions, including Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, National September 11 Memorial Museum, National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Shrem Museum of Art at UC Davis. Her work also included assessing organizational performance, conducting qualitative and quantitative market research, and developing feasibility studies and expansion plans. She has completed research and strategy for Longwood Gardens, Brooklyn Museum, Chicago Botanic Garden, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Central Park Conservancy, The Barnes Foundation, and Vaclav Havel Presidential Library, and a Virginia Wine Heritage Center in Charlottesville.
Amy served as the Acting Director of Constitution Hill’s Heritage-Education-Tourism program in 2004–05, managing the implementation of museum programs and operations in Johannesburg, South Africa. This human rights museum is located in the oldest structure in the central city, a former fort turned prison complex which is now the renowned site of South Africa's Constitutional Court and a mixed-use development.
Amy contributed significantly to the third edition of the Manual of Museum Planning: Sustainable Space, Facilities and Operations, Altamira Press, 2012. Her chapters include: “Integrating Social Spaces,” “The Museum in Action,” “Planning for Staff,” and “Ramping Up to Opening Day.” She is a regular speaker at conferences such as the American Alliance of Museums and Building Museums.
Before joining Lord, Amy was Director of Planning and Operations for Special Projects at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, where she planned and launched a series of initiatives and feasibility studies, including a successful overhaul of retail operations. Originally hired as the Director of Visitor Services during a period of major expansion, she played a leading role in the reorganization of operational policy and procedure, analyzed market conditions to accurately project attendance and revenue, revamped financial reconciliation processes, developed comprehensive management reporting, and introduced a cross-training program for all front-line staff.
Earlier in her career, as an advertising executive at N.W. Ayer and Partners, Amy focused on market research, strategy, and budget management for Procter & Gamble products. Prior to this she spent eight years in New Orleans, at Tulane University, and as Director of a Royal Street gallery and consultant to Studio Inferno and other regional artists.
Amy has a Masters of Arts in Latin American Studies from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts cum laude in Art History from Tulane University. She taught Museum and Non-Profit Management at Sotheby’s Institute of Art; and served on the Board of No Longer Empty, an organization that revives the history of buildings and community narratives through exhibitions and education programs.