58 South Bay Accent
MOSES KINNAH (2)
Kids climb all over the bright green Ford
Model A car, oblivious to any construction
noises going on outside. They ricochet
like flying electrons from the impressive
Rainbow Food Market to the cornhusk
doll-making station to tables peppered
with gears and discs. Those are the echoes
of a thousand discoveries being made.
Throughout the euphoric chaos and
commotion in the museum, one woman
remains unruffled. Executive Director
Marilee Jennings projects serenity and a
maternal air of affection and pride. It is
sure to be tested as she presides over the
museum’s largest expansion yet, the opening
of a remarkable outdoor exploration
area known familiarly as “Bill’s Backyard:
Bridge to Nature.” When the doors open
to the half-acre exhibit in October, the
footprint of the CDM will effectively double,
adding 27,000 square feet to the building’s
52,000-square-foot existing space.
Opened in 1990, the Children’s Discovery
Museum, with its distinctive purple
walled building on the banks of the
Guadalupe River, established itself as a
haven for open-ended, self-directed play
and hands-on experimentation. It has become
a beloved destination for more than
400,000 visitors every year. Jennings was
there at the beginning, as the organization’s
first director of development. Hired
in 1987, six years after moving to California,
she became associate executive director
in 2003 and took over as chief in 2008.
ON-THE-JOB TR AINING
A native of Kansas City, MO, Jennings
retains a trace of a Midwest twang with
a hint of a drawl from her years at Newcomb
College at Tulane University, where
she got her B.A. in French. She also
evinces the gracious air of someone politely
but adamantly determined to get the
job done. That became a major asset in
guiding the last phase of the CDM’s first
$10 million capital campaign to fund the
building of the museum.
“I didn’t have any experience in fundraising,
but what I did have was a newborn
son, and I was very intrigued with the
idea of a children’s museum,” she recalls.
“I thought, as long as I’m thinking about
continuing my career and being a working
mom, wouldn’t it just be great if the work
I was doing was something that would
be hugely beneficial for him? I felt like
I could go at the job with a great deal of
Despite its location in the heart of
Silicon Valley, there is surprisingly
little to be seen of dongles, gadgets or
screens. That’s by design.
passion, because I had a 1-year-old who
was just learning to explore the world,
and certainly learning by doing. And so I
decided I really did want to work at this
children’s museum.
“From the day I arrived at the organization,
I was enthralled with the idea that
every day, the work that I would do would
be to benefit children,” she says. “I had to
work because the children were going to
depend upon me, and we were going to
deliver something in San Jose that was so
extraordinary.”
In those early years, Jennings worked
closely with Sally Osberg, the CDM’s first
executive director.
“I was on a very steep learning curve,”
she recalls, laughing. “But I think it was
with Sally’s tutelage that I really came to
understand how you formulate a vision,
how you compel people to really get excited
about that vision and to believe in
it, and then how to have the kind of fortitude
to march forward no matter what’s
going on.”
Jennings notes that the museum’s first
decade included economic highs and
lows, but she nevertheless continued to
push the development of the CDM as
associate executive director under Connie
Martinez for most of the institution’s
second decade.
FUN UNPLUGGED
Today, Jennings’ vision of a hands-on,
low-tech environment dominates. Despite
its location in the heart of Silicon
Valley, there is surprisingly little to be
seen of dongles, gadgets or screens. That’s
by design.
“It turns out that our visitors aren’t very
excited about big screens,” Jenning says,
adding that many people visit this museum
to get away from too much technology.
CDM believes in using technology
only if it offers the best solution to the
goal—which isn’t often.
Indeed, the experience of unplugging
and getting kids back into nature was a
key part of the inspiration for the $3 million
Bill’s Backyard, affectionately named
for Bill Sullivan, the recently retired CEO
of Agilent Technologies, who served as the
chair of the CDM board for many years.
“There is this growing concern that
young parents are feeling less and less
comfortable letting their kids play outside
freely, and understandably so,” says Jennings.
“So we thought, well, we’re worried
that for most kids, their exposure to na-