Getting to know: Danielle Ripperton with the Children's Museum of Richmond – Richmond Times-Dispatch
Danielle Ripperton with the Children’s Museum of Richmond
Title: Executive director of the Children’s Museum of Richmond, which was founded in 1981 and operates two locations — at 2626 W. Broad St. in Richmond and at 6629 Lake Harbor Drive in Chesterfield County.
Born: 1980 in Harrisburg, Pa.
Education: Bachelor’s of science in music management, University of Evansville, 2002; master’s in arts administration, Indiana University, 2005
Career: National Headquarters of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, 2000-2003; Tales & Scales, 2005; University of Evansville, 2005-2006; Children’s Museum of Evansville, interim executive director, director of development and marketing 2006-2010; Richmond Symphony, individual giving officer, 2010-2011; Peter Paul Development Center, director of development, 2011-2019; Children’s Museum of Richmond, December 2019-present
Where in the metro area do you live?: North Chesterfield
Best business decision: “In nonprofit organizations, there are many constituents and expert voices to consider as an organization makes major decisions with the end-goal of fulfilling its mission. There was a period of time in late summer 2020 that I feared CMoR would have to go dormant to wait out the pandemic. However, as we continued to learn more from the organizations and businesses operating around us, we began to see a path. At the earliest opportunity, we were able to reopen CMoR in September 2020 with the health and safety of our team, children, and families, first and foremost in our mind. It took a lot of pivots and turns (and many abandoned ideas) to get to the opening strategy that we implemented. It was really hard, but the team worked together. This was critical for a community that desperately needed the hands-on educational experiences that a children’s museum offers.”
Mistake you learned the most from: “Fresh out of graduate school, I believed I had the tools to embark upon a major organizational planning exercise on my own. The resulting frustration of team and board members demonstrated to me that collaborative team work is the key to organizational planning and success. When we try to work alone, we get a subpar product that doesn’t engage the collective group in what we’re trying to ultimately do — move an organization forward to fulfill its mission.”
What is the biggest challenge/opportunity in the next two to five years: “The health and stress of the pandemic has introduced a new ‘weary’ to our world. The biggest challenge is how to gather energy and revitalize in the next two years in order to launch into a ‘next normal’ for beyond the immediate future. When we find that energy, we need to run with it to operate in new and exciting ways, charting a new path for the future.”
First job after college: Assistant director of finance and marketing at the national headquarters of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity
If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently: “I believe that things happen for a reason — sometimes to learn a lesson, sometimes to grow. Of course, like most, I have nagging thoughts of “What if…” However, at the end of the day, I am beyond blessed and grateful for where my path has led me thus far and I feel that I have been called to this role and organization.”
Movie or book that inspired you the most, and why?: “Richmond’s Unhealed History” by the Rev. Benjamin Campbell. “I think it’s important to look at and try to understand the past in order to figure out the present and next steps for the future. Not being from Richmond (or Virginia), when I began working at Peter Paul in Richmond’s East End, I felt the need to understand the history of the neighborhood. Rev. Campbell’s book was a catalyst to my learning about the historic and systemic injustices that have borne out for centuries.”
Favorite and least favorite subject in school: Favorite: math and music; least favorite: geography — “thank goodness for map apps.”
An Israeli company that makes plastic houseware, garden storage and toy products sold at major retailers plans to open a manufacturing plant a…
Much has been written in 2021 about what some call the “Great Resignation,” which predicted that employees would leave organizations amid wear…
Debbie Berger started Dynamic Mobile Imaging with her husband and her parents in 2005 with one van equipped to handle mobile X-ray equipment.
At a time when checking the time often means yanking a mobile phone out of your pocket, the Midlothian-based startup Handley Watches is buildi…
A more than 2-month-long lockout of about 95 union-represented employees at DuPont Co.’s Spruance plant in Chesterfield County has ended.
Those colorful Uptown Richmond buildings along West Main Street, just west of Virginia Commonwealth University’s academic campus, have been so…
After nine years as a tenant, the Center of the Universe Brewing Co. has a permanent home in Hanover County.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has announced the following appointments:
Shares of specialty insurer Kinsale Capital Group Inc. will start trading on the New York Stock Exchange next year.
Commercial real estate analytics and research firm CoStar Group Inc. plans to build a 26-story office building along the James River in downto…
Danielle Ripperton with the Children’s Museum of Richmond
Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.
