Leslie Ladendorf loves Florida museums—and being a Gator. Ladendorf (BA Anthropology ’00 and MA Museology ’07) is now putting her skills to work as the development director at the Cade Museum for Creativity + Invention in Gainesville, Florida.
After growing up in Gainesville with reddish-orange hair and blue eyes, Ladendorf says she was born to be a Gator. Juggling her time between graduate school and working full time in human resources at the Florida Museum of Natural History helped her time management skills, which prepared her for her current position. “I had to wear many hats working in that position,” Ladendorf says.
After spending three and a half years in human resources, Ladendorf advanced to become the museum’s membership coordinator in 2006. In 2010, she was promoted as the assistant director for development and membership. Ladendorf says she is happy to try something new with the Cade Museum.
“It’s exciting to be on the ground floor working toward something great for the Gainesville community,” she says.
One of the museum’s goals is to serve the community as a public nonprofit organization. “We need the community to be successful, and now is the time to get on board,” Ladendorf says.
The Cade Museum offers classes and camps for children ages 6-12, internship positions for students in museum studies, tourism and engineering, and also provides numerous creative resources for the community. To learn more about the museum, visit www.cademuseum.org.
