Hey Changemakers,
I am so excited to return to this series of conversations here at Agents of Change, after a bit of a break this summer. I always love this series, since it gives me an opportunity to bring in the insights and perspectives of some incredible thinkers doing the work of making change happen in museums and nonprofits.
Today, I am so thrilled to be joined by Margaret Kadoyama, a true shining light in the museum field. Margaret is the author of the pivotal book Museums Involving Communities: Authentic Connections that deeply examines the museum-community relationship, which as you know is something dear to my heart.
Margaret has more than 40 years of experience working in community involvement, program assessment, and program development for museums and cultural organizations, including teaching in the Museum Studies program at John F Kennedy University for 21 years. She has always been passionate about making museums more accessible, inclusive, and relevant to their communities.
For me, Margaret’s work and writing has been vital when it comes to museums and community engagement, and I cite her writings in my own book, Museum as Agents of Change. So I jumped at this opportunity to be in conversation with her as part of this series.
Our conversation hit on some key topics surround the career and life journey, including:
Applying our personal core values beyond our career, and thinking about how our values apply to life after work.
Transitioning from a career to retirement, including both the emotional challenges and practical steps involved in this complex transition.
Embracing self-reflection for a meaningful retirement, and exploring how self-reflection can help us prepare for and find purpose during retirement (and any of the major life and career changes that happen).
Valuing intergenerational knowledge and learning, and how we can do better when it comes to building bridges and creating deeper respect across generations.
In addition to diving into these important topics, Margaret shares her personal insights on navigating the transition into retirement, offering advice for others facing similar changes:
Identify what is most important to you as you begin transitioning into retirement, or really at any major transition in your career or life. This provides you with that purposeful grounding.
Reflect on what makes your days feel good: Think about what makes you happy and what brings you joy, and create more opportunities for those things to happen.
Be willing to try something new. Even as we age and tend to appreciate the comfort of what we already know, we need to leave our comfort zones and try new things.
I am so extremely grateful for Margaret taking the time to share her personal reflections with the Agents of Change community. I hope you can take away valuable insights on how to approach retirement with a mindset of reflection and purpose, transforming this — and any life transition — into an opportunity for personal growth and fulfillment.
Embracing a Purposeful Life in Retirement