ABOUT IHE

Meet Our Team

Our Board of Directors’ core competencies are in heritage education, archaeology, and nonprofit organization management. We have more than 100 years of combined experience relevant to IHE’s work. Two members of our Board (Franklin and Moe) are published authors in cultural heritage education.

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Elaine Franklin, Secretary
Elaine Franklin, Secretary

I participate in this work because public archaeology and heritage education are is not just about professionals presenting their work to the general public, but about putting “people first”

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Jeanne M. Moe, Chair
Jeanne M. Moe, Chair

I knew then that cultural heritage education would be my life’s work and I have never looked back.

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Dean Littlepage, Treasurer
Dean Littlepage, Treasurer

The first time I fully realized how deeply heritage education and interpretation can affect people came during the run of a major Alaska history exhibition I organized for the Anchorage Museum of History and Art in 1997. I loved giving public walkthroughs of the exhibit, and found it really entertaining to just wander

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Michael D. Metcalf, Member at Large
Michael D. Metcalf, Member at Large

My passion for embedding education in the practice of archaeology stems from three sources: public interest in field projects, involvement with K-12 students, and teaching introductory college courses.

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Rebecca Simon, Member at Large
Rebecca Simon, Member at Large

I participate in this work because public archaeology and heritage education are is not just about professionals presenting their work to the general public, but about putting “people first”

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IHE History

A group of Project Archaeology supporters incorporated the Institute of Heritage Education (IHE)
in Montana in 2014.

The original purpose was primarily to provide a safe home for Project Archaeology at a time the program’s existing partnerships were under significant stress. As time passed, the need for an alternative organizational home for Project Archaeology faded, and the Board of Directors chose to go inactive.

In 2019, we realized a clear need for both a partner nonprofit for Project Archaeology and an umbrella support group for cultural heritage education programs of all kinds. A newly organized Board revised IHE’s Articles of Incorporation and revived the organization. The Board applied for and received tax exempt status as a 501 (c) (3) organization under the Internal Revenue Code on October 24, 2019.

Project Archaeology’s primary partners, including IHE, significantly reorganized the partnership structure in 2022, and IHE became the program’s designated national nonprofit partner. In January 2024 we significantly revised our previous Strategic Plan to emphasize this relationship with Project Archaeology while maintaining the objective to assist a broad range of cultural heritage programs and projects.