Meet the Board: Kathy Boukissen

Please tell us a little bit about where you work and what you do there. 

The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums, the Nation’s FIRST Presidential Library. Celebrating its Centennial in 2016. 

Position: Director of Development since 2007 

What is your earliest museum memory (Perhaps an institution you visited as a child)? 

How ironic for me that my first Museum experience as a child is the museum I am now employed at! I have been able to witness the expansion and changes over the past 50+ years. 

What led you to go into the museum field? 

I feel to be successful with development efforts you must have a passion for the organization in which you work. I strongly believe in the importance of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums to the state of Ohio and the United States. 

What is your workspace like? 

My piles make me look either very busy or unorganized! I listen to Pandora and change the genre to spice up my office environment. 

What item in your office can you not live without? 

TWO things I can’t live without. My computer & cell phone. WOW, has my job become so much easier with technology. When I first started in development 19 years ago we had a DOS database software and office phone. I don’t think people were even emailing then. If they were, it was very limited. Now I use my cell phone all the time, even at work because I am in and out of my office and I want to be accessible to people trying to contact me. 

Describe your favorite work memory. What was your best day like? 

I interviewed President Hayes’s descendants for a campaign video. It was great to hear their stories about living in the Hayes Home before it was turned over to the State of Ohio for tours. 

My best days are ones I can interact with children and see their enthusiasm for learning. 

What does your dream museum look like? 

The Museum we just completed, thanks to the success of our $1.6 million campaign. The new gallery exhibits are engaging and thought provoking. People tour Museums very differently, so when we engage a diverse audience we have succeeded. 

What is the best advice you have ever received? 

Every person is the face of your organization. Everyone needs to make a good first impression because that may be the only one your organization gets. 

What are you currently reading? 

Just keeping up with the daily news and work related literature is my goal. I wish I could find time to read books! However, my next read is a brand new book , “A Son’s Dream”. The history of Colonial Webb Hayes founding of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums. 

Is there anything else you would like to add? 

“The US Constitution doesn’t guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it.” Be happy!