Marilee Jennings

Marilee Jennings has been the executive director of Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose, California for nearly a decade. She is responsible for fulfilling the museum’s mission to bring innovative interactive learning opportunities to the diverse children and families of Silicon Valley while stewarding plans for the Museum’s continued development and world-wide reputation as a leading children’s museum. In its signature 52,000 square foot Ricardo Legoretta-designed building, more than 150 interactive exhibits inspire children’s curiosity and creativity and help them understand the world around them. Jennings’ vision for the role of food in the museum was fully realized in 2015 with the opening of FoodShed, a 2,000 square foot café that also serves as an educational program space. With the goal of helping children understand what healthy food is and where it comes from, FoodShed culminates the museum experiences of role-playing shopping at a farmers’ market in the Eat a Rainbow exhibit and seeing how produce grows in Kids’ Garden with the opportunity to taste colorful fruits and vegetables firsthand.