Envisioning the Academy
A Precis of the Strategic Framework
Developed and Approved, January - June 2025
As the American Academy of Arts and Sciences approaches its 250th anniversary in 2030, the Board of Directors has approved a new strategic framework to guide the organization’s plans in the coming years.
The seven-year framework is intended to be broad and adaptable, like the Academy itself. It builds on our founding mission, set forth in 1780, and institutional values, offering a vision that honors our past, addresses today’s challenges, and plans for the future. This undertaking has been informed by the interests of our members, as conveyed by our most recent member survey.
To develop the framework, which is summarized in this precis, we asked:
- What are the guiding principles for an organization founded on democratic ideals, dedicated to honoring excellence, and committed to advancing the common good?
- How can the Academy’s work meaningfully address issues of importance to its members, the nation, and the world?
- What does it mean, in 2025, “to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people”?
We determined that the Academy will continue to produce high-quality, interdisciplinary work that addresses urgent societal challenges with nimble, innovative, and data-driven approaches to further engage members, reflect diverse perspectives, and connect with key audiences such as policymakers, educators, and civic leaders.
These efforts will be guided by four animating principles, as follows:
Focus on Strengthening Democracy – We will emphasize the connection between the creation of knowledge and the democratic conditions that make it possible in the twenty-first century.
Develop Relevant and Timely Products and Resources – We will produce resources that address critical issues and engage a breadth of disciplines.
Learn from the Local – We will foster, highlight, and learn from the strengths, knowledge, challenges, and failures of local efforts.
Amplify Our Convening Power – We will increase convenings that span disciplines and divides to encourage civil and constructive dialogue, even when there is disagreement.
These animating principles are reflected in, and will guide, the seven strategies of implementation for conducting Academy work in the years ahead:
- Celebrate Excellence – The Academy will embrace the dynamic nature of knowledge and achievement through our elections, prizes, legacy members, and other forms of recognition.
- Long-Term Programmatic Initiatives – The Academy’s long-term work will enable the organization to address key issues with greater depth and interdisciplinarity, and to increase our influence, relevance, and impact in the following areas: Arts & Humanities, Democracy & Justice, Education, Global Affairs, and Science & Technology.
- Learning from Local Knowledge – The Academy’s interest in expertise and experience at the local level will foster opportunities to highlight and engage with local communities.
- Produce a Range of Resources – The Academy will develop events, materials, and convenings that are responsive to, and useable by, target audiences across all areas.
- Convenings and Membership Engagement – The Academy will increase and foster convenings, broadening opportunities for local committees and advancing initiatives.
- Visibility and Outreach – The Academy will communicate more extensively to increase relevance, impact, and visibility.
- Financial Sustainability – The Academy will pursue responsible and sustainable philanthropic and programmatic growth.
The principles and strategies set forth allow the Academy to respond to current issues with shorter timeframes while also producing enduring work on issues of profound importance to scholars and society. While priorities may shift over time, the Academy will always seek to champion the value of the arts and sciences and the conditions of freedom necessary for them to flourish.
As a membership organization, the Academy draws its strength from its members. This framework is shaped by your ideas, aspirations, and feedback and reflects our shared responsibility to guide the future of the Academy and its impact on the nation. We invite you to be part of this next chapter: to ask timely questions, develop bold ideas, and collaborate in service of the common good.
To learn more about the strategic framework, please email: president@amacad.org.