Matthew Leifer Email & Phone Number

Washington, Dc, Us

Wheaton, Maryland, United States

Washington, District Of Columbia, United States

Directed day-to-day operations of the VEO, occasionally assuming the role of Chief as needed. Led a team of 11 full-time, part-time, contract employees and 200+ volunteers to engage and provide programming for over 1M visitors per year. Collaborated closely with cross-functional teams across the Library on executing projects including tours/daily programming, dignitary visits, the National Book Festival and the Gershwin Prize concert.• In collaboration with the Chief of VEO, set and implemented the department’s operational strategy including, but not limited to, staffing, visitor engagement strategies, volunteer recruitment and volunteer continuing education.• Re-imagined the volunteer staffing strategy including onboarding, the development of the volunteer training handbook and courses, tour evaluation and tour scheduling. • Led the execution of the VEO’s new engagement strategy tasked with prioritizing the visitor’s experience.• Led the effort to re-establish volunteer-led guided tours of the Library, including creating and providing engagement strategies classes required for all volunteers.• Led the transition to a new volunteer management software system, including overseeing requirements gathering and customizing the database and website to ensure alignment with organizational priorities and increase efficiencies.• Led the Library’s effort to improve visitor experience through timed-entry tickets for both public and group visits resulting in less crowding during busiest time periods and better communication with visitors pre- and post-visit.• Led the contract technical review process to select a contractor for a visitor study.• Liaised with Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) to re-open tunnel connecting CVC and Library.• Led effort to create a Main Reading Room Experience, giving thousands of visitors access to the previously researcher-only Main Reading Room in the historic Thomas Jefferson Building.

Arlington, Virginia, United States

Reported directly to the Executive Director of the Memorial. Directed all Memorial operations including visitor services, education, public programming, gift shop, volunteers, training, accessibility initiatives and special events. Led a team of full-time, part-time, contract and volunteer team members. Built a Programs and Education Department by creating both virtual and in person programs to engage new audiences.• Led team to create interactive and engaging standards of learning-aligned lesson plans and other education programs to assist educators engage students in historical events through the lens of servicewomen.• Partnered with Collections Department to ensure all education and public programming is grounded in Memorial-supported content. • Planned, managed and evaluated Memorial-wide visitor experience and customer service strategy in addition to education and public programming strategies. • Established a monthly signature interview program where we fulfill our mission by sharing servicewomen’s stories with new audiences.• Established and implemented required customer service and accessibility training for all Memorial team members resulting in more engagement with visitors and increased registration of women’s service.• Led the creation of a new activity cart to promote individual guest engagement to explore servicewomen’s stories resulting in over 3,000 unique engagements in the first half of 2021.• Established an on-boarding training for volunteers, resulting in an over 300% increase in volunteer participation and retention. • Led complete overhaul of Gift Shop, including creation of website and fulfillment process, which brought in over $24k in revenue in the first two months open. • Created, trained and implemented a manager-on-duty program to ensure proper operational and customer service training for all Memorial leadership.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Guided daily operations of museum visitor services team with 9 managers, 50 full and part time representatives and 100+ volunteers for 800K+ visitors annually. Managed $2.8M budget. Planed, managed and evaluated the overall visitor experience and customer service strategy. Directed both department training and company-wide orientation sessions. Advocated both for team members and visitors. Oversaw museum-wide operations in the absence of Executive Director. • Led organization-wide accessibility compliance initiatives through the strategic use of technology and staffing to ensure Newseum was within ADA guidelines. • Reviewed, analyzed and interpreted historical data, informing future staffing structure and directing and scheduling management team. • Realized nearly 24% savings in staffing budget through leadership of department-wide strategic staffing re-alignment to minimize organizational resources and target staffing for most effective visitor experience. • Created and administered organization-wide orientation training, reinforcing organizational culture which included security procedures, customer service, accessibility, diversity, exhibit content, building navigation and organizational structure. • Responsible for department-wide hiring for full- and part-time positions.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Led and trained diverse team consisting of part-time and full-time representatives and 100+ volunteers. Created daily and weekly schedules for all team members to ensure best coverage of exhibit galleries as well as processed and approved all time sheets.• Re-imagined television studio experience to provide better visitor engagement by introducing hourly interactive programs about the studios which averaged over 1,400 visitors daily. • Supported team members by creating an extensive training and evaluation program to ensure accuracy of information. • Boosted scheduling protocol efficiency, reducing administrative time following a shift in staffing from predominantly part-time staff to a full-time staff.• Developed data-informed operations protocols for high-volume days and special events that included: - Unstructured free admission days, family programming days and teacher open houses. - Structured events such as three presidential inaugurations which impacted operations including numerous VIP visits, coordination with U.S. Secret Service and multiple media outlets while ensuring visitor access to exhibits. • Oversaw the development of multiple team member handbooks including: -Staff Handbook to streamline processes resulting in standardization and adherence to policies and procedures. - Visitor Services Leadership Handbook to set clear expectations for job performance and policy enforcement resulting in improved and equal staff coaching, mentoring and disciplinary procedures. - Building Operations Center Handbook to consolidate all security-based procedures resulting in more efficient response times to emergency situations and better communication with leadership for customer service failures.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

Supervised up to 180 part-time representatives. Coordinated scheduling and facilitated training provided by training department. Supervised and coached team on guest services on exhibit floors.• Monitored museum visitor flow in the security office using cameras and radio communications.• Mentored, coached, led and advocated for Visitor Services team.

Cleveland/Akron, Ohio Area

• Supervised, scheduled, coached and mentored Visitor Experience team of 20 part-time team members and 30+ volunteers to provide front line guest service to visitors. • Created schedules for all school group field trips including tours, programs, theater shows and lunches. • Researched and created dynamic and engaging educational STEM-based programs.

Cleveland/Akron, Ohio Area

• Supervised registration team and call center, redeveloped registration procedures for groups, events and overnight experiences and prepared analyses of registration trends which informed resource management.• Managed and streamlined billing operations to reduce unpaid invoices.

Cleveland/Akron, Ohio Area

Provided front-line guest relations including exhibit interpretation, facilitated guided groups and camp-ins, performed demonstrations for guests and developed new demonstrations.

Master Of Arts - Ma, Museums Studies

Graduate Certificate, Nonprofit Management

Bachelor Of Arts - Ba, Media Studies