Leadership and Board

Leslie Swartz
Advisor

Leslie Swartz is responsible for museum-wide long-range program planning and development; developing funding strategies and securing foundation support for programs; strategic planning; and major new initiatives. She served as project director for the Children of Hangzhou: Connecting with China exhibit and associated educational and public programs, as well as a published DVD ROM bilingual curriculum; the project received major funding from State Street and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Current projects include planning for BCM’s 100th Anniversary celebration and a centenary exhibit, From Time to Time: 100 Years of Change in Boston.

During her years at BCM, Leslie has led the Harvard East Asian Outreach Program, the education department, community outreach and teacher services. She was the project director for the Museum’s largest publication, the 18-volume Multicultural Celebrations series (Modern Curriculum Press, 1992 and 1994). She co-authored Moonbeams, Dumplings and Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities and Recipes (Harcourt: 2002).

Formerly a high school history teacher, Leslie has worked extensively in Chinese Studies, conducting seminars for teachers and producing classroom curricula. She was a co-founder of Boston’s Dragon Boat Festival. She has traveled extensively in China, and was a co-founder of the Boston-Hangzhou Sister City relationship. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oberlin College and a Master’s degree in East Asian Studies from the University of Michigan.

Charlayne Murrell-Smith 

Vice President, External Relations & Corporate Development

Since joining the Museum in 1996, Ms. Murrell-Smith has maintained and managed the corporate, civic, government and community relationships of the Museum to advance its mission, programs, public profile, and financial health. She also shares oversight for stewarding the Museum’s many outreach initiatives that directly benefit the children and families of Boston and beyond.

Prior to joining the Museum, Charlayne was Director of Client Services and Strategic Planning for the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, where she was responsible for the coordination and delivery of programs and services to Chamber members and served as chief operating officer. She has also served as Project Vice President and General Manager of the Wishnow Group, Inc., a public affairs consulting company specializing in local and national social issues campaigns; Community Affairs Director of WHDH-AM and WZOU-FM; and was a guidance counselor in the Cambridge and Newton Public Schools. 

A native of Denver, Colorado, Charlayne holds degrees from Wellesley College and Northeastern University. Her current affiliations include the Boards of Directors of the Boston Children’s Chorus, The Boston Harbor Association, The Lenny Zakim Fund and the YMCA of Greater Boston. She also serves on the advisory board of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Women’s Network and is a member of the American Association of Museums and the Association of Children’s Museums.

Charlayne received a 2002 Pinnacle Award for achievement in non-profit management from the Women’s Network of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and was recognized as one of the Leading Women 2000 by Patriots’ Trail Girl Scout Council.

She resides in Roxbury, MA.

Jeri Robinson
Advisor

Joining Boston Children’s Museum in 1973, Ms. Robinson offers over 45 years of experience in teaching and consulting in the field of early childhood education. She is the developer of the PlaySpace exhibit, (one of the earliest prototypes for early learning family spaces in children’s and other museums), founder of the Boston Cultural Collaborative for Early Learning and co-founder of both Families First Parenting programs and “Count Down to Kindergarten”.

For many years, she has provided early childhood training and consultation to schools, museums and other organizations. Ms. Robinson received her B.S., M.S. Ed. and an Honorary Doctorate in Education from Wheelock College, serves on numerous boards dealing with family, community, multicultural, and early childhood education issues. She is currently a member of the Boston School Committee, and serves as co-chair of the City of Boston’s Thrive in Five program and the Mayor’s Universal Pre-K Task Force.

In recognition of her work, Ms. Robinson has received awards including the Wheelock Centennial Award, the Boston Parents Paper Family Advocate Award, the Women Who Care Award, and the Lucy Wheelock Award. Ms. Robinson was a 2004 participant in the Schott Fellowship in Early Care and Education (Public Policy), a program of the Schott Center for Public and Early Education, Cambridge MA. In 2005, she was named to the American Association of Museums, Centennial Honor Roll, in recognition of her contributions to the museum field in the past century and in 2010, received the Abigail Eliot Award from the Boston Association for the Education of Young Children.

Publications include:
Activities for Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere
PLAYSPACE: Creating Family Spaces in Public Spaces
Planning for the Very Young: Excellence and Equity in Preschool Activities at Science Museums

Chris R. Antonowich
Vice President, Marketing & Visitor Experience

Chris Antonowich is a pivotal thought leader and respected industry veteran. In this newly expanded role, Chris is dedicated to defining and amplifying the Museum’s reputation and brand whilst continuously developing new ways to engage, entertain, and enthrall visitors. A passionate visionary, Chris works to uphold and enhance the Museum’s position as a world class leader in learning through play.

With 20+ years in the creative services industry; including founding and leading two creative agencies and career stints with 90.0 WBUR and Hasbro, Chris has experience as a manager, video producer, writer, editor, event producer, and more. He also drives successful campaigns and initiatives across various sectors, including; nonprofits, higher education, healthcare, sports entertainment, AI, and intellectual properties.

Chris has a Master of Science, Advertising degree from Boston University and a Bachelor of Science, Business Administration degree from Villanova University. He is an accomplished musician and resides in Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood in Boston, with his family and close-knit community.

Mike Travis
Vice President , Philanthropy

Mike Travis leads the Museum’s Development activities spanning all initiatives related to individual giving, major gifts, annual fund, and planned giving programs. Mike is a creative and skilled development professional with 15 years of progressive resource development and organizational development experience as a fundraiser at the local, regional, and national levels.

Most recently, Mike served as Senior Philanthropy Officer at Boys & Girls Clubs of America, overseeing all aspects of individual giving, major and planning giving fundraising for the largest youth serving agency in America, serving 4.7 million youth annually at more than 4,600 Club facilities nationwide located in rural communities, urban neighborhoods, in schools and public housing, on Native lands and on U.S. military installations worldwide. Mike was with BGCA for more than six years, and previously served as Senior Director of Club Consulting, leading a team of fundraising consultants that served 4,600 local affiliates nationwide, and Director of Organizational Development for BGCA’s Northeast region, initiating and providing consultation and support services to local organizations.

Prior to BGCA, Mike worked for a national nonprofit consulting firm managing a personalized cultivation program for elite donors that generated qualified leads for major gift officers while using sophisticated modeling and data overlay services to identify top prospects. Mike has a great facility in developing relationships with donors and prospects and partners effectively with senior management, board members, staff, and other stakeholders to build meaningful donor relationships to successively increase revenue. In his career as a frontline fundraiser, he earned a reputation forging relationships needed to bring together many communities including medicine, technology, business, academia, research, human services and community stakeholders.

Mike has worked in senior level development positions at large healthcare and human service organizations with budgets ranging from $3 – $100M+ annually. Mike began his career as a fundraiser due to a personal connection to ALS. While with the ALS Association, Mike oversaw all aspects of development functions and efforts to increase donor awareness and philanthropic support to fund research and patient services for those affected by Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was credited with increasing revenue from $1M annually to $2.8M in three years through major gifts, annual fund, grants and cause-marketing campaigns leveraging the involvement of Red Sox pitcher and activist, Curt Schilling. Mike is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism, Certificate in Fundraising Management from IUPUI Lilly School of Philanthropy and is actively pursuing his Masters in Nonprofit Management from Northeastern University. Mike resides in Scituate with his husband, Jimmy, and 9-year-old daughter, Gemma.

Melissa Higgins
Vice President of Programs and Exhibits

Melissa Higgins is Vice President of Programs and Exhibits at the Museum, where she leads the development of the Museum’s signature hands-on play and learning experiences and is responsible for public programming and exhibit development both inside the Museum and beyond its walls. In this role, Melissa oversees the functions of child development, exhibits, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math), and humanities. Melissa joined the Museum in March 2018 and formerly served as the Senior Director for STEAM programming.

While at the Museum, Melissa has played leading roles in key new initiatives, including creation of the Museum’s STEAM and Art Labs, development of online play and learning tools, securing key grants, establishing strategic corporate partnerships to foster STEAM learning, developing innovative programs including Tech Kitchen and the CreatedBy Festival, and starting the Museum’s new summer camp.

She started her career at the Museum of Science in Boston, where she was Director of Curriculum Development for the Engineering is Elementary program. She also spent time in the education department at WGBH, Boston’s public television station. She holds a B.A. in Architectural Studies from Connecticut College and a M.A. in Museum Studies from the Harvard University Extension School.