The5 with Dion Brown of The National Museum of African American Music

Dion Brown, Executive Director/Acting President of the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM), joins The5 to talk about Transitional Leadership.  Transitional Leadership is quite different than operating day-to-day, status quo and having the right insights and path to success is critical.  Dion walks listeners through The5 key steps to successfully navigating transitional leadership in our episode here.

 

Dion Brown was named the Executive Director/Acting President of the National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) by NMAAM’s Board of Directors on August 2, 2023. He formerly served as NMAAM’s Chief Operating Officer for 15 months prior to this appointment.

Former roles include:

• Chief Operating Officer o National Museum of African American Music (Nashville)
• Managing Director of Nonprofit Services o NMBL Strategies (St. Louis)
• President and Chief Operating Officer o National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (Cincinnati)
• Founding Executive Director o National Blues Museum (St. Louis)
• Executive Director o B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center
• (Mississippi)

During Brown’s Chief Operating Officer role at National Museum of African American Music, he oversaw the Operations, Education & Exhibitions, Marketing, and Guest Services teams. During his tenure, he led the overall reorganization and identified cost savings of over $300K while growing staff. He created the vision for two exhibitions – the 50th Anniversary of the Hip Hop Travelling Exhibition and the rotating exhibition for the museum’s lobby honoring Nashville’s own talent. Brown also curated and led the historical Block Party on Broadway for Juneteenth’s 2023 Celebration.

 

At NMBL Strategies, Brown oversaw the Grand Opening of the American Black Holocaust Museum and led role in obtaining an 8-figure donation. He managed the development of the organization’s Strategic Plan. also served as Interim Director for a Missouri nonprofit for 6 months. At the nonprofit, he restructured the staff and delivered realistic budget expectations while leading the search for the permanent Executive Director.

 

While serving as President and COO at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Brown reduced the budget by $1.8M, led the creation of over 100 programs, built collaborative partnerships with the Cincinnati Police Department, African American Chamber, Jewish Federation, YMCA, and local universities to name a few. He also created new revenue streams to include opening a gift shop on site.

 

As the Founding Executive Director of the National Blues Museum, upon arrival, Brown had nine months to start and complete the build-out of the $13M museum with a staff of one person - and within 60 days he hired a complete staff. Brown created, produced, and hosted the National Blues Museum drive time radio program on a local station in St. Louis and livestreamed productions of Friday and Saturday concerts held at the museum. He created multiple partnerships and outreach programs with the Metro area public schools, universities, and hospitals. Brown created several panel discussions and teen summits to target audiences the museum was not accustomed to engaging with.

 

At the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, Brown directed the overall management of this $15M institution and balanced the budget in his first year and increased revenue by over $200K. He led the effort to retire $1.1M in debt and raised over $750K in the first year and secured a $400K donation to start an endowment. He worked extensively with the Board of Trustees, Directors and Managers to complete the institution’s first strategic plan. Brown established three new educational programs and secured over $118K in funding to support these programs. He revamped the Art of Living Smart Summer Camp which is now a year-round program that includes afterschool and spring camp. Brown also through audience development, created programming that was lauded by the county and city officials as an asset to the community because it was all inclusive. Finally, he was presented with a Proclamation signed by the Lt. Governor of Mississippi for the museum’s success and also recognized by the Delta Business Journals “Top Business Minorities”.

 

Brown is:

• An Emmy Award Winning Executive Producer;
• An experienced educational programmer and a proud team builder, working with staff and board members alike to adopt culturally responsive strategies and navigate challenging situations;
• Retired from the United States Air Force after 21 years of service.

 

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