Meet Our Board
President | Manuel Aguilar
Vice President | Emma Bloom
Secretary | Marisa Nolan
Communications Chair | Sarah Conner
Programming Co-Chairs | Mikee Ferran and Emily Tipton
Stewardship Chair | Emma Poggioli
Manuel Aguilar currently works as the Museum Store Manager at the San Diego History Center located in Balboa Park. He also represents the History Center as a member of the Balboa Park Green Team and serves as a trustee on the Sales Committee of the Spreckels Organ Society. Manuel enjoys “geeking out” about museums because of the power they have to inspire visitors to learn, create and explore. As a previous Stewardship Co-Chair who transitioned to Vice President and then Board President of San Diego EMP, he has continued to help local museum professionals embrace their own power to make an impact on the local museum community. Manuel is certain that by building the talents of local museum professionals San Diego has the potential to develop into the next generation of world-class museum cities! EMP Involvement: President 2019-2020, Vice President 2018-2019, Stewardship Co-Chair 2017-2018.
Emma Bloom is the Public Programs Manager at the San Diego Natural History Museum (“The Nat”). Emma started at the Museum as a Visitor Services Associate five years ago, before moving into the Education Department. Emma has also worked in public programs, education, and exhibits at the Fleet Science Center and The New Children’s Museum. She studied Cognitive Science with a specialization in Neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego. EMP Involvement: Vice President 2019-2020, Programs Co-Chair 2018-2020.
Marisa Nolan became involved with EMP while working at the Timken Museum of Art, where she focused on operations, events, and visitor engagement. Working with museum donors sparked an interest in fundraising, the lifeline for institutions under constant threat of reduced fiscal support, and Marisa was inspired to switch gears to pursue a career in development. While she is currently gaining experience at UC San Diego, Marisa’s passions for art, history, and San Diego culture are ignited by our museum community and she remains committed to the field. Marisa studied Illustration at Delaware College of Art & Design. EMP Involvement: Secretary 2019-2020, Stewardship Chair 2019-2020, Stewardship Co-Chair 2018-2019, Stewardship Committee 2017-2018.
Sarah Conner has been a part of the GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, museums) field for 3 years. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in History and is currently getting her Master’s degree in Museum Studies. She has steadily grown and worked her way into her current position as the Cultural Resources Manager at the San Diego Museum of Man (SDMoM) since her first internship in 2017. Her time with SDMoM has sparked a passion for spreading the much-needed work of decolonization and Indigenous partnerships within museums. She is grateful to EMP for the opportunity to educate future museum professionals on the absolute necessity of decolonizing practices and principals in institutions. EMP Involvement: Communications Chair 2019-2020.
Mikee Ferran began her journey into museums as a program assistant for the Smithsonian Museum on Main Street program at Utah Humanities in 2016. This experience (and an internship at a contemporary folk art museum) provided invaluable hands-on training in the museum field. She currently works as the Museum Exhibition and Visual Arts Supervisor at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido. Mikee is passionate about advocating for museums and the work that supports these institutions. Accessibility, transparency, and opportunity are the foundations of her personal work philosophy. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in History and a Master’s degree in American History. EMP Involvement: Programming Co-Chair 2019-2020.
Emily Tipton began her museum career as a subcontracted exhibit specialist with the Museum of Tolerance, Los Angeles in 2012. Once work was completed on the permanent ‘Anne Frank’ exhibit, she attended the University of California, San Diego and graduated with a Bachelors of Art in Linguistics, specializing in speech cognition and language. While at UCSD, Emily became enamoured with the world of natural history collections. She began working as a collections assistant taking care of dead things in jars at the Benthic Invertebrate Collection located at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in late 2018. After taking several post baccalaureate courses in museum studies, Emily began working as the Curator of Collections at the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum in January of 2019. In addition to her B.A., Emily also holds an Associate of Art in Social Science and has taken numerous continuing education courses in art history, exhibit design, and various science disciplines. In her free time, she enjoys rock climbing, reading classic literature, and learning new languages! EMP Involvement: Programming Co-Chair 2019-2020.
Emma Poggioli is currently the Registrar/Administrative Assistant for the Balboa Art Conservation Center. After earning a MA in Public History at the University at Albany, she headed west. She visited Balboa Park her second day in San Diego, began volunteering with the San Diego History Center the following month and has been working in the Park ever since. Emma hopes to help encourage communication between fellow emerging museum professionals and San Diego’s cultural community. EMP Involvement: Stewardship Chair 2019-2020.
Past Board Members
Stephanie Malyn – Founder & President (2014-2016)
Brinker Ferguson – Communications Chair (2014-2015)
Shannon Fowler – Vice President (2016-2017), Programming Chair (2014-2016)
Erika Katayama – Outreach Chair (2014-2015)
Sandy McCann – Board Member (2014-2015)
Cory Woodall – Board Member (2014)
Dia Bassett– Treasurer (2016-2017)
Jasmine Chu – Programming Co-Chair (2016-2017)
Kristen Mihalko – President (2016-2018), Vice President (2014-2016)
Giovanna Anaya – Programs Co-Chair (2017-2018)
Sharleen Eusebio – Programs Co-Chair (2017-2018)
Rob Low – Stewardship Committee Member (2017-2018)
Laura Lover – President (2019), Vice President (2018), Program Chair (2017), Secretary (2015-2016)
Tanya Aubin – Treasurer (2018-2019), Marketing/Programs Committee (2017-2018)
Sarah Luken – Vice President (2019), Programs Co-Chair (2018-2019)
Amanda Lopez– Communications Co-Chair (2016-2019)
Julia Falkowski– Communications Co-Chair (2016-2019)
Shira Bogin– Secretary (2018-2019), Stewardship Co-Chair (2017-2018)
Caitlin Wion – Stewardship Co-Chair (2018-2019), Secretary (2017-2018)
Kelsey Ceccareli – Communications Chair (2019-2020), Communications Committee (2018-2019)
Samantha Murphy – Stewardship Committee (2019)
Lucyna Poplawska – Communications Committee (2019)
Kaitlyn Sturgis-Jensen – Fiscal Sponsor Task Force (2018-2019), Treasurer/Development (2018-2020)
