MEL FISHER MARITIME HERITAGE SOCIETY NAMES NEW DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
The Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society has a new Chief Development Officer – Kent C. Weimer. Kent replaces Lisa Petrone Malcom who is pursuing a career in motherhood.
Kent comes to the Society from the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, where he created and operated the office of gift and estate planning. Prior to Shedd, Kent was Development Director, North America and Europe, for the Lions Club International Foundation. At Lions International, Kent created an external development program, successfully obtaining funds from government, corporate and foundation sources.
Kent Weimer’s career has spanned more than twenty-five years in nonprofit management and financial development. In addition to executive positions and as consultant at the YMCA of the USA, Kent has also worked as an independent consultant to nonprofit organizations conducting capital and major gift campaigns in the Keys and throughout Florida. Kent and his family have been living in Key West despite work assignments elsewhere.
"We are so pleased to have Kent as a part of our team," said Mel Fisher Maritime Museum executive director Dr. Madeleine Burnside. "His experience and success in securing needed funding sources for other organizations will be a major plus as we prepare for the future."
With a strong interest in history and a passion for the marine environment, Weimer says “joining the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society and working with such an impressive staff is a perfect fit.”
2005 is the 20th anniversary of the finding of the initial Atocha mother lode that was the springboard to the creation of the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society and Museum.
The Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum is a 501 c (3) not-for profit organization dedicated to the research, preservation, and education of New World history. Founded in 1982, it is the most visited non-profit history museum in the southeastern United States and has been accredited by the American Association of Museums.
