PRESS RELEASES

McMullen picked to head Whaling Museum

NEW BEDFORD, MA, March 20, 2018 – Amanda D. McMullen has been named president and chief executive officer of New Bedford Whaling Museum after an international search, the museum’s board announced last week.

The museum said it teamed with Koya Leadership Partners, an executive search firm that specializes in leading searches for mission-driven clients, to find the museum’s next leader. McMullen will take the helm May 7, according to a news release.

“As president and CEO, she will develop and articulate a vision for the museum’s next chapter and will assume responsibility for communicating the Whaling Museum’s mission, vision and values to all constituencies,” the museum said. “Reporting directly to the Board of Trustees, McMullen will develop and promote the strategies needed to build on the organization’s past successes, and will work to ensure the continued position of the museum as the landmark cultural organization in the region and the preeminent whaling era resource in the country.”

McMullen brings more than 20 years of experience working with nonprofits in senior management and fundraising positions to her new role.

Chair of the New Bedford Whaling Museum Board of Trustees Carol M. Taylor said: “We are delighted to welcome Amanda to the Whaling Museum and New Bedford. With a strong record of leadership and accomplishments, she is poised to contribute to the current momentum and growth within the region’s arts and culture community. The board is confident that Ms. McMullen will enhance the museum’s impact and advance its mission and strategic priorities.”

First Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees and Chair of the Executive Search Committee Anthony Sapienza called McMullen “an accomplished leader” who is “innovative, creative and skilled” in building partnerships and finding new opportunities for growth.

“I am excited to join the team at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, and I look forward to working in partnership with the board, staff, and volunteers as we continue to play a critical role in understanding and celebrating the many vibrant stories of the greater New Bedford community,” McMullen said in a statement.

McMullen will leave her position as chief operating officer for the nonprofit organization Meeting Street in Providence, Rhode Island, which also operates The Schwartz School in Dartmouth. As COO she directed programmatic, operational, marketing, and philanthropic activities for Meeting Street, which is a leader in education and child development and serves more than 5,000 children. She directed corporate sponsorship activities for the Smithsonian Institution’s Traveling Exhibitions and was the director of Leadership Giving for the United Way of Massachusetts Bay. McMullen also served as the capital campaign coordinator for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.