Vanessa Trevelyan

Vanessa Trevelyan Vanessa Trevelyan is President of the Museums Association and Director of Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service.

Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service is one of the largest county services in England.  It is a joint service of the county and seven district councils with 130 staff, 11 museums and two study centres.  NMAS is the lead museum in the East of England Museum Hub funded by the government’s Renaissance in the Regions programme.  

Vanessa's relationship with Norfolk started in the early 1970s when she studied Art History at the University of East Anglia and acted as a volunteer at one of the museums in Norwich.  

Vanessa joined NMAS in 1999 after five years with the Museums and Galleries Commission, now the Museums, Libraries & Archives Council (MLA).  At the MGC she was responsible for the successful UK Museum Accreditation Scheme, the "kite mark" for museums. She also took the lead on developing standards for audience development, disability access and marketing.

Vanessa previously worked for the South Eastern Area Museums Council providing advice and support to museums throughout the south east.  Before that she worked for the Victoria & Albert Museum, first as a curator of children's costume and toys at the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood, and then as manager of the government funded Purchase Grant Fund for the Regions.

Vanessa is currently President of the Museums Association after serving for many years as Convenor of the MA’s Ethics Committee.  She is a governor of Norwich University College of the Arts, a member of the MLA’s Leading Museums Leadership Group, and a founder member of the Women Leaders in Museums Network.