Nina Simon

Nina Simon has been called a “museum visionary” by Smithsonian Magazine and a Silicon Valley Business Journal “40 under 40” for her audience-centered approach to design.

She is the Executive Director of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, where she led an institutional turnaround based on grassroots community participation.

Nina is the best-selling author of The Participatory Museum (2010), The Art of Relevance (2016) and the popular Museum 2.0 blog. Previously, Nina worked as an independent consultant and exhibition designer with over one hundred museums and cultural centers around the world.

Nina began her career at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. She lives off the grid in the Santa Cruz mountains with 14 people, 27 chickens, 5 dogs, and 1 zipline.