Jamie Simek helps organizations get organized. She is a systems thinker specializing in non-profit resource development at small and mid-sized museums. Her 20-year career in organization and constituent relations includes stops in university and alumni relations, student organization advising, veterans services, fundraising training, and grant writing. As the fundraising educator for Local History Services at the Indiana Historical Society, she was responsible for teaching fundraising, grant writing and evaluation methods to hundreds of local history organization leaders.First at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, and now at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, she is the grants manager and a member of the advancement team. By embracing her roles as both fundraising professional and museum professional, Jamie is committed to learning and sharing everything she can about resource development at museums of all sizes. Her unique professional background provides multiple perspectives that are helpful to small and medium-sized cultural heritage organizations. From working with local history organizations as a field services officer, to serving as a grant fund administrator and review panel facilitator, to preparing multiple proposals each year as a museum grant writer, Jamie understands the benefits and challenges that are inherent to these groups. She has served as a session and workshop presenter at AASLH annual meetings, chaired the StEPs Enhancement Fundraising Committee, authored the summer 2018 AASLH Technical Leaflet on fundraising basics for local history organizations and provided fundraising training to the Field Service Alliance on behalf of the American Alliance for Museums. She also provides fundraising training, grant writing, proposal critiques, and program design and evaluation reviews as an independent consultant. She holds a bachelor's degree and Master of Science in Education from Purdue University and is a 2019 graduate of the Syracuse University V-WISE (Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship) program.
