Climb the Mountain, Discover America: Monticello’s Next Chapter

"When clambering a mountain, we always hope the hill we are on is the last. But it is the next, and the next, and still the next.” 
     – Thomas Jefferson, 1786 

Since coming to Monticello in early 2024, I've been struck again and again by the sense of shared mission and purpose that drives our staff. It’s an honor to pursue happiness with so many colleagues who define excellence in their fields. Yet even this abundance of riches needs direction: a roadmap to chart our course, and a plan for how we will achieve shared goals. 

That’s why we’ve spent the last 18 months thinking deeply about our mission, values, and vision for the future. The result, which I’m pleased to share with you today, is our new strategic plan: “Climb the Mountain, Discover America.” 

The Moment is Now

You might ask: Why now? Why at this moment? I’d offer three reasons: 

1. The 250th 
With the Declaration’s 250th anniversary approaching, Monticello is uniquely positioned to speak to the relationship between our past, present, and future as “one people ... created equal.”  

2. The “Power of Place” Creates Opportunity to Connect 
Monticello staff often speak about the “power of place,” and this plan challenges us to extend that power to more places—both literally and figuratively. By elevating the impact of our landscapes and our outreach efforts, we advance both the preservation and education strands of our mission. We believe the result will be an elevated experience that has a greater impact. 

3. Civic Urgency 
In a time of polarization, institutions like Monticello bring people together for conversations in anchored truth, complexity, compassion, and inspiration. We engage the past and face the future with rigor, humility, and openness. 

For all these reasons, this is a moment to step forward, with candor and curiosity, just as Jefferson would have urged. 

Strategic Goals

1. Activate Our Landscapes
Showcasing Monticello’s grounds, gardens, and architecture as living parts of the story, while promoting environmental stewardship. 

2. Strengthen Monticello from the Inside Out
Building staff, resources, and operations to sustain long-term success. 

3. Monticello for Virginia
Expanding engagement with local and state communities as a vital cultural and educational resource. 

4. Monticello for America, Monticello as America
Positioning Monticello nationally to tell a complete story of America’s past, present, and future. 

A Call to All: How You Can Walk with Us

Climb the Mountain, Discover America is not just Monticello’s new strategic plan. It’s all of ours: our history, our landscapes, our shared civic future. And we want you along for the climb. Here are just a few ways you can join us:

• Visit Monticello and walk the trails. Be part of the embodied experience. Engage in tours, attend programs, ask questions, converse with staff and guides. 
• Engage online. Follow Monticello’s digital offerings, take virtual tours, join webinars, contribute your reflections. 
• Become a civic partner. If you are an educator, scholar, institution, or a mission-driven organization, talk with us about collaborative programming, research networks, or joint initiatives. 
• Support Monticello’s mission. Monticello is a private non-profit dependent on visitor support. Whether through membership, philanthropy, or volunteering, your commitment enables us to be ambitious, bold, and sustainable. 
• Offer feedback. We will open channels for public comment—help us improve.

The Mountain We Climb Together 

In Climb the Mountain, Discover America, we aim to climb with humility, responsibility, and urgency. We climb knowing that every journey takes us only part way, that it takes many hands and voices to plan an ascent, and that an experience of vision can be found on every mountaintop. 

In the spirit of that challenge, I invite you to walk with us—to climb every step, pause where needed, reflect on the views, and lean into the conversations that push our national story forward. As we climb, we will discover America anew, and rediscover our shared power as ongoing founders of constitutional democracy. 

Thank you for being a part of this journey. I look forward to climbing with you.