AASLH is thrilled to announce that we have selected 25 of our field’s emerging leaders as the 2025 History Leadership Institute Fellows!

Chosen from a large and highly competitive pool of applicants from across the country, these promising leaders will participate in the 2025 History Leadership Institute (HLI) Seminar. They bring with them a wide range of experiences, perspectives, and professional roles—from curators and educators to executive directors and emerging innovators—working at history organizations large and small, rural and urban, all across the country.

This year’s cohort reflects our commitment to building a diverse and dynamic network of history professionals who are ready to take on the field’s most pressing challenges and opportunities. Thanks to robust fundraising—including from AASLH’s ongoing Making History Matter campaign—we offered seven full scholarships to this year’s Seminar, making the program more accessible than ever. The 2025 HLI Fellows represent one of the largest, most diverse cohorts in the program’s more than 65-year history.

After a successful two-decade run at the Indiana Historical Society, this year’s HLI Seminar will be held at the Mill City Museum of the Minnesota Historical Society. Over the course two weeks in June and several virtual convenings both before and after, the 2025 HLI Fellows will engage in deep conversations, peer learning, and professional development focused on leading the future of the field with purpose, relevance, and impact.

“It’s wonderful to see the HLI Seminar gaining energy as it takes root in its new home,” said John Dichtl, AASLH President & CEO. “This program continues to grow as a key part of AASLH’s mission to help history organizations and practitioners to thrive.”

“If there was a perfect time to support our field’s most promising leaders in being their bravest selves, it is now,” said Andrea Jones, Director of the HLI Seminar. “I can’t wait to get started.”

Please join us in congratulating the 2025 cohort!

  • Rachel Byington, Wisconsin Historical Society (WI)
  • Corinne Claycomb, Illinois State Musuem (IL)
  • Leah Craig, Kentucky Historical Society (KY)
  • Kate Dorr, Harbor History Museum (WA)
  • Andrea Field, Naper Settlement (IL)
  • Rachel Frazier, Maryland State Archives (MD)
  • Jonathan Goldman, B&O Railroad Museum (MD)
  • Amanda Irwin, Hart Cluett Museum (NY)
  • Sarah Junk Hatcher, Indiana University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (IN)
  • Melissa Kneeland, Dunn County Historical Society (WI)
  • Mariruth Leftwich, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation (VA)
  • Gillian Maguire, Minnesota Historical Society (MN)
  • Chrystal Mars Baker, Tomaquag Museum (RI)
  • Nicole Martinez-LeGrand, Indiana Historical Society (IN)
  • Jeff May, San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum (TX)
  • Melanie Parker, Ilitch Holdings, Inc. (MI)
  • Kristen Parrott, Vernon County Historical Society (WI)
  • Sarah Phillips, Idaho State Historical Society (ID)
  • Tabitha Pryor, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello (VA)
  • Kasey Rhone, Museum of Tulsa History (OK)
  • Leah Roggeman, Conner Prairie Museum (IN)
  • Zachary Stocks, Oregon Black Pioneers (OR)
  • Vinothaan Vipulanantharaja, Arts and Heritage Foundation of St. Albert (Canada)
  • Lynne Walker, Kodiak History Museum (AK)
  • Terri White, Charlotte Museum of History (NC)

Applications for the 2026 HLI Seminar will open in Fall 2025. To learn more about the program, click here.

The History Leadership Institute is supported in part by some of the field’s leading institutions including: Association for African American Museums, Conner Prairie, Minnesota Historical Society, Missouri Historical Society, National Association for Interpretation, and Virginia Museum of History & Culture.