Sheri Levinsky-Raskin, Founder of SJLR Solutions: Museum Consultant, Evaluator, Educator, Museum Visitor Advocate

Sheri established SJLR Solutions to empower teams and demystify evaluation practices for cultural organizations and museum professionals across the United States. With a mission to support teams of all sizes and professionals at every experience level, Sheri shares her expertise, strategies, and resources to help organizations thrive.

A lifelong advocate for culture, visitor engagement, and accessibility, Sheri’s journey began in New York City, where the vibrant museum community inspired her. She discovered the field of museum education in 1995, realizing it was the perfect intersection of her interests and academic background in cultural anthropology, elementary education, and art history. Her first experiences in the field included an education internship and part-time gallery teaching role at the Saint Louis Art Museum during her undergraduate studies, followed by a summer internship at the Art Institute of Chicago. Sheri earned her bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis and later completed a master’s degree in museum education at George Washington University in 1999.

Sheri began her professional career at the Decatur House Museum (National Trust for Historic Preservation) in Washington, D.C., serving as Director of Education and Programs. Over six years, she honed her skills in team leadership, grant writing, interpretive planning, exhibition development, and board engagement. She then returned to New York City in 2005 to join the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Over the course of 15 years, Sheri held increasingly senior roles, culminating in her position as Assistant Vice President for Research and Evaluation. In this particular role, she established the Museum’s first internal evaluation team, spearheading visitor experience studies, exhibition prototyping, program assessments, and data-driven reporting.

Sheri has extensive experience securing and managing projects funded by national agencies such as the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). She remains dedicated to fostering accessible, high-quality museum experiences and has served on local and national committees for organizations, including the Education Committee for AAM (EdCom), Museum, Arts, and Culture Access Consortium (MAC), American Association for State and Local History (AASLH), American Alliance of Museums (AAM), and New York City Museum Educators Roundtable (NYCMER).  She is also a seasoned grant reviewer for IMLS and a frequent article reviewer for the Journal of Museum Education.

As a current adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins University’s Museum Studies Master of Arts program, and previously with graduate museum studies programs with the CUNY School of Professional Studies, New York University, and Seton Hall University, Sheri has taught courses on museum evaluation, audience research, history and theory of museums, and community engagement. Her expertise is further reflected in her published work on accessibility, inclusion, out-of-school time programs, and evaluation practices. She has shared her insights at over 25 national conferences and webinars, contributing to conversations on museum education, research, and collaboration.

Sheri’s dedication to cultural organizations and her commitment to advancing the field of museum evaluation continue to inspire the professionals and institutions she supports through SJLR Solutions.