Executive Director
Sara Fisher director@iwasm.org
Sara joined the team at IWASM in November 2020. Before coming to the museum, she ran one of only two history-focused AmeriCorps programs in the country. She has more than eight years experience in the museum, historical society, public history, and archives field. Sara previously worked as the Curator/Collections Manager at the Lakewood Historical Society, AmeriCorps member with the Quaker Heritage Center of Wilmington College and the Oberlin Heritage Center, the Ohio History Connection as AmeriCorps Manager & Local History Services Coordinator, and Community and Operations Manager at CoWork Oberlin. Since 2013, she’s worked with more than 40 local history museums in Ohio to better serve their communities, care for their historic collections, develop interactive programming, establish strategic planning, and more. Sara is actively engaged with the Ohio Local History Alliance, American Association for State & Local History (AASLH), and National Council on Public History. In 2018, she served as Impact, Relevance and Engagement Co-Team Lead for the StEPs Enhancement Project, which brought together professionals from across the country to update the StEPs (Standards of Excellence Program) workbook for small to medium size history organizations.
Beginning in April 2022, she serves on Ohio's America250 Showcasing Committee which is charged with planning the United States' 250 commemoration in 2026.
She earned a B.A. in History with a Women & Gender Studies Certificate from Ohio University, and a M.A. in History concentrating in Public History from Wright State University. One of her pet research interests are the “Night Witches” – the nickname given to the all-female 588th Night Bomber Regiment of the Soviet Union during WWII.
Collections Manager
Alexandra Lausin collections@iwasm.org
Alexandra joined the IWASM team in December 2024. Prior to IWASM, Alexandra taught as an adjunct faculty member at Lake Erie College, and has assisted in the collections departments at James A. Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor, OH and Fort Ligonier in Ligonier, PA. Outside of collections, she has researched and written material focusing on the Women’s Suffrage Movement, which was published by the Trumbull County Historical Society in celebration of the Women’s Suffrage Centennial in 2020. Alexandra has also used her research to recreate historical clothing and textiles for the Lake County Historical Society as well as her own use when she travels to participate in various living history events and lectures.
Through her
work, Alexandra strives to utilize museum collections to paint an accessible and inspiring picture of the past that impacts and enlivens the public’s view of history.
Alexandra holds a BA in History from Lake Erie College and an ALM in Museum Studies from Harvard Extension School. Her favorite topic of research is women’s fashion in the 18th century. When she’s not at IWASM, she enjoys teaching advanced ballet and modern dance to her students in Chardon, OH.
