The non-profit Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum has recently welcomed four new members to its staff. Joining the museum are Bob Bright of Rancho Santa Margarita, Ca. as Campaign Finance Director; Leigh Peek of St. Michaels, Md. as Assistant Store Manager.; Jillian Ferris of Stevensville, Md. as School Programs Manager; and Matthew Engel of Shaftsbury, Vt. as Shipwright Educator.
As Campaign Finance Director, Bob Bright will plan, organize, and implement financial reporting of activities related to the museum’s comprehensive capital fundraising needs, ensuring accurate reporting of gifts, pledges, and grants, while managing restrictions against expenditures upon completion of associated projects. Bright brings more than 25 years’ experience to the position, with a focus on non-profit governance, accounting, and finance leadership. Bright most recently served 19 years with The Richard Nixon Foundation of Yorba Linda, Ca., where he successfully managed all aspects of the Foundation’s accounting, finance and reporting, including issuance of the internal financial statements, developing the annual budget, and assisting the auditors in an annual comprehensive audit. He was responsible for accounting for a $45 million endowment trust fund, which increased by $33 million during his tenure. Bright led efforts to establish budget discipline and expense management, and implemented not-for-profit governance policies leading to high ratings by numerous charity watch organizations. He holds a B.A. in Business Administration, with an emphasis on Finance, from California State University in Fullerton, Ca. Bright and his family will be relocating to Talbot County.
As Assistant Store Manager, Leigh Peek is responsible for managing the Museum Store’s online store, as well as working in customer service, merchandising, and inventory. She brings many years of retail management experience to the position, including merchandising, customer relations, and inventory management. Peek most recently served more than 16 years as Account Executive for WestRock’s Merchandising Displays Division, where she marketed launches of new merchandise. She earned her B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In a newly created part-time position, Jillian Ferris takes on the role as School Programs Manager, responsible for developing collaborative relationships with teachers and administrators in Delmarva public and private schools, which includes launching and overseeing a new Bus Scholarship program, promoting other scholarship and fielding requests, and coordinating K-12 field trips and other student experiences at the museum. Ferris worked with CBMM in 2010 as an education intern, and later as an education consultant supporting school-based, exhibition programming. Since 2011, Ferris is as an 8th grade teacher with Queen Anne’s County Public Schools, where she received the Outstanding Teacher Technology Award in 2015, and the Maryland History Day District Teacher Award in 2014. She was selected as a Master Teacher with Maryland State Department of Education from 2014-2015, where she instructed teachers and administrators on implementation of inquiry learning in the Social Studies classroom. Ferris holds an M.A. in History Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program, State University of New York at Oneonta and New York State Historical Association. She graduated Magna Cum Laude, with distinction in the Liberal Arts Core Curriculum from Colgate University in Hamilton N.Y., where she earned a B.A. and History and Secondary Education Teacher Certification. Ferris received Colgate University’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2008, and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship for Taiwan from 2008-2009.
As Shipwright Educator, Matthew Engel will be working with the boatyard and education departments in this new position to develop, implement, and evaluate a new sixth grade after-school program that will engage students in boatbuilding, nautical- and math-skill building, teamwork, and student empowerment. Engel brings more than ten years’ experience in boatbuilding, project management, and training program development. In addition to founding his own construction company, Engle most recently served as Senior Programs Manager with All Hands Volunteers in Leyte, Philippines, where he managed and mentored program managers across multiple reconstruction projects. Previously with the same organization, Engel managed training and reconstruction programs in New York, Haiti, and the Philippines, where he developed and implemented training programs for unskilled workers. Engel learned the aspects of wooden boat construction at The Landing School in Arundel, Me.
The first year of the new Shipwright Educator position has been generously funded by the Wallace Genetic Foundation; and the School Programs Manager position generously funded through individual, philanthropic support to the museum.
“To continue to grow and expand as the best maritime museum in the world—including doubling enrollment in our school-based educational programs—we must employ the most talented individuals to our team,” said CBMM President Kristen Greenaway. “We’re fortunate to attract these skilled professionals, and extremely grateful for the private support that has allowed us to grow our educational staff especially.”
Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015, CBMM is the only museum in the world preserving and exploring the history, environment, and people of the entire Chesapeake Bay. For more information, call 410-745-2916 or visit www.cbmm.org.
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