Anisha Gupta

As a labor advocate, I've worked with museum staff, graduate students and faculty, and professional organizations to help workers navigate the workplace. In recognition of my work in the conservation field, I received AIC's Rutherford John Gettens Award for Outstanding Service with co-chair, Anya Dani.

Equity & Inclusion in the Profession

As co-chair of the American Institute for Conservation's Equity & Inclusion Committee, I set the equity and inclusion priorities for the organization and spearheaded initiatives focused on systemic change, including:

  • Conducting equitable reviews of guidelines and processes to remove exclusionary barriers
  • Serving on the Executive Director search committee
  • Creating professional development opportunities for conservators
  • Advising on organizational policies
  • Establishing affinity groups for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC conservators

The committee was also focused on our internal functioning, and we worked hard to create a collaborative environment. To guide our work, we created a document of our guiding principles, working agreements, and non-negotiables.

For more resources, please visit the EIC website and wiki.

Equity & Inclusion in Higher Education

I've worked closely with the WUDPAC program to help them expand diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. This includes:

  • Overhauling current graduate admission requirements, which are considered major barriers in the field. I led a faculty committee in the revisions, and we were focused on transforming the process to look at candidates more holistically.
  • Creating a climate survey to better understand the overall comfort of faculty, students, and staff within the department.
  • Leading workshops on microaggressions with faculty and students.

Workplace Advocacy

I frequently give talks on salary advocacy and negotiation to various institutions like the NYC Museum Educators Roundtable, Dismantle Preservation, Society of Winterthur Fellows, and Poster House interns. Topics include the nuts and bolts of negotiating a salary, negotiating within an institution, and how hiring managers can be more equitable in their compensation philosophy.

You can find a recording of this talk online.

I also introduce museum workers to collective organizing through unions. You can find recordings of a two part series I co-moderated on museum unionization online.