National First Ladies Library Hires New President & CEO Patty Dowd Schmitz

Organization Readies for Growth and Expansion

CANTON, OHIO, USA, March 31, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- The National First Ladies Library announced today that after a national search its Board of Directors has hired Patty Dowd Schmitz of North Canton, Ohio, as the organization’s next President and CEO.

“On behalf of the National First Ladies Library Board, we are excited and enthusiastic to welcome Patty Dowd Schmitz as our new CEO,” said Jacqueline A. Musacchia, Chair of the National First Ladies Library Board of Directors. “With her track record as an accomplished, energetic and innovative non-profit leader, we are excited for her to take our founder Mary Regula’s dream of creating a national historic site to honor and inform the world on the important role First Ladies played in our nation’s history to the next level.”

Ms. Schmitz brings with her over 25 years of professional experience in the non-profit sector. Working with a variety of arts and cultural organizations in Illinois, Ohio, Colorado, and Wisconsin, she has proven to be a successful strategic planner, fundraiser/marketer, team builder, collaborator and involved community member. Ms. Schmitz most recently served as the Director of Community Engagement, Communications and Marketing for the Village of Barrington, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. In that time, she successfully built an engagement and outreach program for the municipality and held executive oversight of Barrington’s White House Cultural and Community Center, which produced over 100 public events annually.

In other roles and consulting positions, Ms. Schmitz has developed non-profit strategic plans, created public programming, developed outcome strategies and led Board and Advisory Board development exercises. She received her Master of Science in Journalism from Northwestern University and her Bachelor of Science in Journalism, with minors in American History and Political Science, also from Northwestern University. A North Canton native who spent much of her career in the Chicago area, she is a graduate of Hoover High School and has also been a member of the Canton Symphony Chorus and the Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps. She is passionate about advancing the knowledge of women in history, as she is a descendant of First Lady Mamie Doud Eisenhower and is a known scholar of the children’s author Laura Ingalls Wilder (“Little House on the Prairie”).

“I could not be more thrilled to be back in my hometown of Canton to take on the opportunity to advance the mission of the National First Ladies Library, which is a true gem both nationally and in our community,” said Ms. Schmitz. “Canton is growing its tourism profile by leaps and bounds, and I am honored that the NFLL Board of Directors has placed its faith in me to expand local and national awareness of this National Historic Site. I am very much looking forward to building on relationships both old and new in Canton as we execute our vision in the coming months and years.”

About the National First Ladies Library

The National First Ladies Library was founded in Canton, Ohio, in 1995 by Mary Regula, wife of former U.S. Representative Ralph Regula. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to preserve, promote and educate about the significant role of First Ladies of the U.S and their contributions throughout history. The organization operates and manages the First Ladies National Historic Site in a partnership agreement with the National Park Service. In 2000, President Bill Clinton signed a bill establishing the First Ladies National Historic Site in Canton as the 380th unit of the National Park Service. The site consists of the Ida Saxton McKinley House, the family home of First Lady Ida Saxton McKinley and the longtime residence of President William and Ida McKinley, and the Education and Research Center. The Education and Research Center has exhibit space, a Victorian theatre, a research library, conference and seminar rooms, archival storage and processing rooms, and administrative offices.

Patty Dowd Schmitz
National First Ladies' Library
+1 440-717-3750
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