Each mentoring session accommodates 100 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. Attendees will be divided into four groups of 25 per mentor. Please arrive early to secure a seat with your preferred mentor.

ARTHUR G. AFFLECK III
Title: From Sandbox to Strategy: Why 'Youth Power' Begins in Childhood

This mentoring session reinterprets ICOM’s theme through the lens of early childhood. Led by
the President of the Association of Children’s Museums, the session posits that genuine youth
agency and leadership must be nurtured from an earlier age, not only in adolescence. The
session explores how learning through play builds essential skills such as critical thinking,
collaboration, and reflection, forming the foundation for future innovators. In response to the
global demographic shift toward younger populations, it presents a developmental pathway for
engagement, from amplifying children’s voices to enabling young adult governance, and calls on
museums to invest in their youngest visitors as active partners in shaping a better future.

MARTHA IKABONGO
Title: Youth Voices & Museum Futures: Building People-Centred Museums through
Leadership and Opportunity

This workshop explores how effective administration, human resource practices, and museology
can empower young professionals to drive change in museums. Participants will reflect on
leadership, teamwork, and inclusive management as key tools for creating people-centred
museum environments. Drawing from experiences in museum administration and HR
development, the session will discuss how mentorship, ethical leadership, and professional
growth pathways can strengthen youth participation and institutional sustainability. Through
open dialogue and a short interactive exercise, participants will identify how youth can
contribute to a culture of accountability, innovation, and shared leadership in today’s evolving
museum landscape.

LUJAIN ABAHUSSAIN
Title: The Role of Play in Fostering Culture: The case of Ithra’s Children Museum

This mentoring session explores how play transforms learning in cultural spaces, turning
curiosity and interaction into meaningful experiences. Using the case study of The Children’s
Museum at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), the first children’s museum in
Saudi Arabia, it examines how play can be a medium to showcase and preserve local culture.
The discussion invites cultural practitioners and educators to look beyond traditional exhibits
and consider how the simple act of play can express values, traditions, and community stories.
Participants will explore how playful experiences can reflect and preserve heritage while
fostering creativity and connection; apply tools that help museums design experiences where
learning and culture meet; and reflect on the cultural narratives and values embedded within
their own institutions.

KATE MATAR
Family First: Intergenerational Programming Within the GCC’s Museums and Biennials

The burgeoning cultural ecosystem of the GCC has created opportunities to re-examine
museum and arts programming, testing and developing new approaches suited to the region’s
expanding and diverse audiences.
This session presents examples and research from museum and biennial public programming in
the UAE and Saudi Arabia, focusing on multigenerational and family-oriented experiences.
Participants will explore shared success factors across these initiatives and contribute examples
of intergenerational programmes from their own institutions. The session will conclude with a
collective exercise to identify key examples, real or imagined, of aspirational, family-focused
museum programming to be shared with all participants at the close of the workshop.