Sarah Jencks

Bio

As founder and principal of Every Museum a Civic Museum, Sarah Jencks works with museum leaders educators to help them articulate their authentic civic missions and see the possibilities for igniting and enacting the collective impact of museum education in schools and in our democratic republic. Recent and current clients include the National Park Service’s Chesapeake Gateways network, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, the Museum of the City of New York, James Madison’s Montpelier, the Barack Obama Foundation, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, King’s Chapel, Made By Us, Thinking Nation, Preservation Maryland, and the Lincoln Presidential Foundation. She believes that every museum can and should be a civic museum. Jencks serves as co-chair of the Educating for American Democracy (EAD) Community Learning Partners task force, serves on the Democratic Knowledge Project’s EAD Advisory Committee, and is a volunteer leader and frequent speaker for the American Association for State and Local History and the American Alliance of Museums. She is a visiting professorial lecturer with the George Washington University Museum Studies program. For almost 15 years, Jencks was founding Director of Education and Interpretation at Ford’s Theatre, where she oversaw school and teacher programs as well as interpretive strategy and digital and on-site exhibitions. She previously taught middle-school history, English, and theater. She serves on the boards of the National Council for History Education and Literacy InterActives and holds an M.Ed. in School Leadership from Harvard University Graduate School of Education and an A.B. in American Civilization from Brown University.