Shelli Herman and Associates Tapped by Omaha Children’s Museum to Find New Leader
March 25, 2025 – Los Angeles-based Shelli Herman and Associates has been retained by Omaha Children’s Museum (OCM) to lead in its search for a new CEO. In this moment of promise and potential, Omaha Children’s Museum seeks a CEO to provide strategic and visionary leadership as the organization builds its future. The CEO is accountable for creating optimal conditions for fundraising success in the ongoing capital campaign, ensuring project achievement. Specifically, this advocate will build alignment throughout the organization and serve as a compelling and strategic storyteller, generating excitement among sophisticated donors about various projects and initiatives.
The museum’s connection with Omaha is crucial, and the next leader will utilize existing relationships and work to establish new ones. To enhance community awareness of the museum’s initiatives, the CEO will nurture partnerships with various organizations and individuals to expand impact and improve Omaha’s early childhood educational and enrichment opportunities. This represents a remarkable chance for an experienced and visionary civic leader enthusiastic about educational and economic equity, creative models of impactful learning, and investing in the region’s future.
The CEO will be an inspiring, visible, and community-driven leader passionate about and committed to Omaha Children’s Museum’s history, mission, and vision for its future, according to the job specification. Versatile and people-oriented, they will value effective communication, maintain high visibility, and engage with the community while serving as an ambassador and advancing the organization’s work. The CEO will lead by example, applying practical, business-minded thinking and judgment to every aspect of the organization’s operations and initiatives.
This energetic and engaging leader will aim to expand the organization’s reputation and reach by communicating priorities to staff, board members, and stakeholders. Receptive to new ideas, methods, and opportunities, they will make challenging decisions with confidence and compassion. The CEO will actively engage with Omaha’s culture and education communities. They will also have a track record of leading successful fundraising initiatives with a strong ability to grow contributed revenue in a way that emphasizes people, relationships, and sustainability.
Related: Shelli Herman and Associates Recruits CEO for the Dallas Zoo
For almost 50 years, Omaha Children’s Museum has engaged the imagination and created excitement about learning. Since 1976, when a group of Omahans filled a station wagon with art supplies and traveled to events to offer educational programming to area children, OCM has been community-driven. Today, it is one of the most visited museums in the State and welcomes around 300,000 guests from across the region each year, about a quarter of whom reside outside Nebraska. In 2023, nearly 342,000 people experienced OCM’s hands-on exhibits, workshops, programs, presentations, and special events that help children understand their ever-changing world.
A Vital Investment in Omaha’s Future
Building on this legacy of impact and community support, Omaha Children’s Museum is set to celebrate its 50th anniversary next year by starting construction on a vibrant new building at Omaha’s river front. This new museum represents a vital investment in Omaha’s future.
Shelli Herman and Associates Recruits President and CEO for the Santa Barbara Zoo
Following a comprehensive national search, Los Angeles-based Shelli Herman and Associates has placed Charles Hopper as the new president and CEO of the Santa Barbara Zoo. He will succeed Rich Block, retiring in January 2025 after 26 years of leadership. “Finding someone to succeed Rich Block was no small task,” said Jim Jackson, vice chair of the Santa Barbara Zoo’s board of directors and head of the transition committee. “Rich has left an indelible mark on the Zoo, and it was vital for us to find a leader who could build on that legacy while charting a bold path forward. Charles rose to the top of our list because of his impressive leadership background, ability to connect with communities, and passion for conservation and education. We believe he is the right person to lead the zoo into its next era.”
Shelli Herman and Associates Inc. serves trailblazing clients across the corporate, non-profit, and higher education sectors. The firm’s long roster of clients includes the Annenberg Foundation; the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation; BENlabs; The Capital Group Companies/American Funds Distributors; City Year, Los Angeles; the Fresno Chaffee Zoo; the Griffith Observatory Foundation; Jewish Family Service LA; Laguna College of Art and Design; Loyola Marymount University; Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium; P.S. ARTS; the Saint Louis Zoo; Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County; the University of California System; the Whitney Museum of American Art; and YWCA Greater Los Angeles.
Shelli Herman, who has more than 25 years of executive recruitment experience, has a strong record of leading searches and building upper management teams for a diverse clientele, including Fortune 500 companies. She has completed senior-level assignments in many industries, including consumer products, healthcare, high technology, and finance, as well as for non-profit, conservation, and cultural organizations. Additionally, she brings an in-depth understanding of the unique cultural environment of academia that was gained while she held significant management positions at the University of Florida and Loyola Marymount University.
Related: Shelli Herman and Associates Recruits CFO for Saint Louis Zoo
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
