About the Conference:

In a city defined by innovation and reinvention, CAJM and AHO’s 2026 Conference will explore how museums can confront the urgent challenges of our time - from rising antisemitism and social fragmentation to new opportunities for collaboration, creativity, and renewed public trust.

Facing the Future: Museums as Catalysts for Change invites leaders from across the Jewish museum field and the broader cultural sector to examine how our institutions steward memory, strengthen civic life, and lead with purpose in a rapidly shifting landscape.

Our planning is guided by three core concepts:

• Hope and honesty in equal measure - pairing optimism with clear-eyed engagement.

• Detroit as a learning landscape - drawing insight from the city’s legacy of creativity, reinvention, and complex histories.

• Museums as catalysts - fostering connection, deepening understanding, and modeling new pathways forward.

We look forward to adding to this growing roster. If you know a corporate sponsor, nonprofit, foundation, or individual interested in supporting CAJM’s work and our conference cycle, please contact executive@cajm.net.

CAJM Conference 2024

May 14-16, 2024
Washington, DC & Baltimore, MD

SEE THE PROGRAM AGENDA!

American Jewish museums have long played a role in strengthening the public square and civic participation.  Whether working directly with teachers and schools, illuminating the journey of religious freedoms in America, anchoring and stimulating informed public dialogue, or modeling inclusion and democracy — museums are an integral force in public life. 

With American society now so deeply divided, museums of all kinds are developing new ideas about their role in democracy — for the immediate year ahead and beyond. 

In partnership with A More Perfect Union: The Jewish Partnership for Democracy, the CAJM 2024 conference activated new thinking across museums to elevate their civic engagement. Thank you to all who participated so thoughtfully and meaningfully.

Read through the conference topics and agenda, and feel free to consult the following resoures:

A More Perfect Union: The Jewish Partnership for Democracy

Resetting the Table

Bridge USA

Conference reflections by Avi Decter

Thank you to those who are made our 2024 conference possible, including:

Albert and Lillian Small Foundation
Dan J. Epstein Family Foundation
CANVAS
Gottesman Fund
National Mah Jongg League
Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation
Rabbi Robert and Virginia Bayer Hirt
Joanne Marks Kauvar Fellowship & Scholarship Fund
Anna R. Cohn Fellowship Fund
C&G Partners
Marsha Semmel
Gemma Birnbaum
Avi Decter

Thanks also to our partner sites:

The Lillian & Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum
The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
The National Museum of American History
Planet Word
Madison House Baltimore, in partnership with the 
Jewish Museum of Maryland

CAJM Conference 2022
November 1-3, 2022 in New York City

Please check out the roster of outstanding presenters and challenging topics in the conference program, which looked at the ways museums representing specific cultures and identities are called upon to address numerous pressing issues in American society – from missing narratives, to prejudice and injustice, to fighting acts of hate, defining identity, modeling inclusion, and creating new strategic directions for the future.

Set in museums across New York City, including the Museum of Jewish Heritage, the New-York Historical Society & future home of the American LGBTQ+ Museum, the Jewish Museum, and diverse field trip venues, this year’s conference featured new insights, approaches, and voices from across many different culturally specific museums. 

With extraordinary colleagues, we explored what we have in common, how we work differently, and how new partnerships and allies can help us achieve shared goals. 

VIDEOS OF CONFERENCE SESSIONS:
- Day One (Nov. 1) at the Museum of Jewish Heritage
- Day Two (Nov. 2, part 1 of 2) at the New-York Historical Society (coming soon!)
- Day Two (Nov. 2, part 2 of 2) at the New-York Historical Society
- Day Three (Nov. 3, part 1 of 3) at the Jewish Museum
- Day Three (Nov. 3, part 2 of 3) at the Jewish Museum
- Day Three (Nov. 3, part 3 of 3) at the Jewish Museum

We are proud to have produced this conference in partnership with: 

Thank you to those who made our
2022 conference possible, including:

Jewish Liberation Fund, a fiscally sponsored project of the Proteus Fund
CANVAS
Gottesman Fund
Younes & Soraya Nazarian Family Foundation
Natan Fund
Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation
Rabbi Robert and Virginia Bayer Hirt
Joanne Marks Kauvar Fellowship & Scholarship Fund
National Mah Jongg League Foundation
Anna R. Cohn Fellowship Fund
Congregation B’nai Jeshurun
Judy Margles
Lisa Sasaki
Mira Goldfarb Blum
C&G Partners
Gallagher & Associates
Amy Kaufman Cultural Planning

 Global Conference for Jewish Museums
April 20, 21, 27 & 28, 2021

CAJM was honored to present its first online, global conference for Jewish museum professionals – developed in partnership with the Association of European Jewish Museums.  

In this conference introductory video, museum colleagues from across North America and throughout the world share what they've experienced and learned during the Covid-19 pandemic.

More than 300 participants from all over the world collectively examined the topic of Upheaval. We recognized that our profession has been greatly impacted by contemporary issues and forces around the world and that, in response, our museums have been creating their own upheavals through innovation, reconfiguration, and new priorities that will reshape our work for years to come. 

Conference Sessions Available on Video:
Accountability and New Museum Narratives
Advancing Inclusion in Jewish Museums
Embracing Digital Opportunity
Holocaust Museums and Moral Responsibility
How We Talk About Israel
Jewish Museums: Context Matters
Keynote: Beyond “Back to Normal” (Julia Watts Belser)
New Directions for Curatorial Practice
Keynote: The Perils Of Relevance And Memory Wars (Dariusz Stola)
Perspectives From Germany: New Core Exhibitions

To learn more about this unprecedented gathering, please peruse the array of topics and presenters in the conference brochure.

Thank You to Our Conference Supporters:
Leon Levy Foundation
Albert and Lillian Small Foundation
Taube Philanthropies
Krupp Family Foundation
Rabbi Robert and Virginia Bayer Hirt
Joanne Marks Kauvar Fellowship & Scholarship Fund
The Anna R. Cohn Fellowship Fund
jMUSE

Thank You to Our Conference Leadership:
Conference Advisors
Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett – POLIN
Gabriel Goldstein – Independent Consultant
Conference Program Chairs
Lori Starr – Independent Consultant
Laura Mandel – Jewish Arts Collaborative
Jonathan Edelman – Capital Jewish Museum
Association Chairs
Emile Schrijver – AEJM Chair & Jewish Historical Museum/Jewish Cultural Quarter, Amsterdam
Susan Bronson – CAJM Chair & Yiddish Book Center

CAJM Conference 2020

Dallas, Texas - February 22-25, 2020

The Council of American Jewish Museums convened its annual conference in Dallas, Texas from Feb 22-25, 2020 on the theme of “Museums 2020: Essential Conversations.” The conference identified and explored some of the most vital, difficult, and essential conversations for our museums to have throughout 2020.

Jewish museums are natural centers for the understanding and exploration of today’s critical issues – including religion, immigration, persecution, antisemitism, human rights, justice, and America’s complex narratives. We discussed the roles we can realistically play in public discourse and public life … the responsibilities and challenges we might face in the year ahead … and the special resources and skillsets we have for making meaning in today’s world.

Read the program brochure

Program Chairs for this year’s conference were Annie Polland of the American Jewish Historical Society and Anne Hromadka Greenwald of AMH Art Advisory, with Sean Kelley of Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site serving as a special advisor. 

The vibrant cultural scene in Dallas made it a fascinating conference, including experiences at the new Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, the National Center for Jewish Art, the Sixth Floor Museum, Temple Emanu-El, the Nasher Sculpture Center, and other cultural institutions.

With Sincere Thanks to our Conference Supporters and Partners
National Center for Jewish Art
Anonymous Donor
Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum
Julie and George Tobolowsky
Helen and Frank Risch
Kathryn and Craig Hall
Crow Museum of Asian Art
The Albert and Lillian Small Foundation
Krupp Family Foundation
The Anna R. Cohn Fellowship Fund
Rabbi Robert and Virginia Bayer Hirt
Joanne Marks Kauvar Fellowship & Scholarship Fund
International Coalition of Sites of Conscience
jMUSE