President Deborah Howes (she/her/ella) is an internationally recognized thought leader, educator, designer, manager, coach, mentor, and fundraiser for the cultural heritage sector. She innovated landmark digital programs for three world class institutions including: the first interactive digital art browser for children: “With Open Eyes” at The Art Institute of Chicago (1990); the award-winning online resource illustrating 5,000 years of world art history: The Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (launched in 2000); and the first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for the Museum for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) on the Coursera platform (launched in 2013).

In her leadership role at HSI, she performs a range of educational consulting services– including digital production and online course design– for museums and other non-profit organizations. Deborah is a frequent presenter at conferences, and teaches regularly in the Museum Studies programs  at both Johns Hopkins University and University Tre Roma. Deborah earned a B.A. in Art History from Wellesley College and an M.A. in Education from University of Chicago.

Soph Howes (she/her/ella) is both co-founder and production arm to Howes Studio since 2018. Work highlights include co-producing the National Gallery of Art in DC’s first virtual Teacher Institute 2020-2022, developing + producing Humanities DC‘s virtual Humanitini event “DC Food Roots & Culture: Joining the Mother Roots” to include business to local restaurants, and winning the 2020 GLAMi Special Jury Award for Social Justice at the MuseWeb conference! Soph is dedicated to creating spaces, projects and programs that center critical thinking (and critical unlearning) for ALL people.