C-SUITE AWARDS 2020 RISING STAR: Jennifer Bose | Providence Children’s Museum
JENNIFER BOSE had never visited a museum when she chose to major in art history at Boston University. Consider it an impulse decision: “I say I had my midlife crisis at 18,” she said.
Around the same time, Bose began working at the student activities office on campus, a job that would prove just as formative. Two years after completing her bachelor’s degree, Bose obtained a master’s in not-for-profit administration, with a concentration in arts administration.
That education led her through several careers’ worth of executive positions, such as being Museum of Fine Arts Boston exhibitions director and a director of business planning at the Bank of New York Mellon.
Bose, now Providence Children’s Museum’s associate director, blends her managerial and creative talents seamlessly. Her ability to balance the two has been warmly noted by her colleagues.
“So much of the children’s museum is about empowering kids to find joy through play. We want people who are mirroring that themselves,” Providence Children’s Museum Executive Director Caroline Payson said. “[Bose] comes at things with a playful spirit. … She embodies that sense of fun and play despite having super-serious administrative jobs.”
For Payson, Bose’s “super-serious” duties have meant “steadfastly” chipping away at changes needed to modernize the museum.
Numerous amenities were missing at the museum when Bose arrived in 2017 as director of finance, operations and facilities. There was no point-of-sale or customer relationship management system; an old cash register filled those roles. Payroll wasn’t automated and there were no standard security or human resources practices. The museum’s computer network server, Bose said, was a Mac mini – a model that had been discontinued in 2014.
‘I feel like I’m at a time and a place where all my experience can make a difference.’
Jennifer Bose, Providence Children’s Museum associate director
Bose quickly reached out to tech consultants to bolster the museum’s information technology, and electricians when upgrades called for the building to be rewired. Once the tech was in place, different departments such as development and membership could finally and effectively communicate. Standardized human resources soon followed, as did the museum’s first security manual – not to mention staff training, including active shooter drills.
The administrative offices, meanwhile, were littered with “an odd collection of stained, splintered office equipment,” Payson said. Bose then facilitated furniture donations from Fidelity Investments Inc.
“It sounds trivial, like the furniture behind the scenes,” Bose said. But there’s a “morale boost when you get something that works,” she said, whether it’s newer desks or a faster server.
Having strengthened back-of-house operations, Bose in 2019 became associate director. Her duties now involve the museum’s overall operations. She’s been active in the museum’s Creativity Initiative, which invites local artists to conceive and install interactive exhibits.
Bose spent the last year fine-tuning the systems needed for useful visitor analytics, so the museum can now pore over useful data.
“Do our members use their benefits? Are there ZIP codes we’ve saturated or not saturated [with memberships]?” Bose said. These new levels of insight allow the museum to be more strategic about their audience, such as tailoring email content based on visitors’ interest in past exhibits.
“The basics of project management or exhibit management are understanding the goals and where you want to go. [That’s] the thread of the majority of what I’ve done,” Bose said.
She’s worked in institutions both mature and fledgling, so she understands what accelerates growth or stalls change.
“You want to put your dollars toward what seems the most mission-driven, but you get to a sort of threshold where you’re getting bigger and more complex, and you’re relying on Band-Aids and bubblegum,” Bose said.
At that point, institutions must invest in themselves to grow any further. At Providence Children’s Museum, Bose’s efforts and investments feel tangible.
“I feel like I’m at a time and a place where all my experience can make a difference. I feel invigorated every day,” Bose said.
That sense of empowerment has uplifted her co-workers as well.
“We joke that she’s a superhero,” Payson said. “But she is one.”
