Carter Polakoff ’97 transferred to Goucher in 1995 with a plan: She wanted to intern at Port Discovery, Baltimore’s then-emerging children’s museum. What began as an internship eventually became a lifelong commitment to expanding access, opportunity, and joyful learning experiences for children and families across Baltimore.
After graduating from Goucher, Carter worked at Port Discovery before continuing her career with organizations like Living Classrooms Foundation and Baltimore School for the Arts, where she spent more than two decades primarily focused on fundraising, institutional advancement, and foundation management in support of arts education and youth programming. Twenty-seven years after first interning at Port Discovery, she returned to the museum and now serves as president and CEO.
Under her leadership, Port Discovery Children’s Museum has expanded its role beyond that of a traditional children’s museum to become a broader civic and educational resource for children, caregivers, educators, and communities throughout the region. Through exhibitions, community partnerships, professional learning initiatives, and family-centered programming, the museum works to ensure that all children, no matter their background or what neighborhood they’re from, have access to joyful, enriching playful learning experiences.
Carter’s leadership has focused heavily on increasing access to cultural institutions and strengthening collaboration across Baltimore’s nonprofit, education, and community sectors. Her work regularly brings together schools, museums, libraries, social service organizations, artists, and civic leaders around a shared goal of supporting children and families more holistically. She is currently helping lead initiatives designed to connect families with museums and cultural institutions across Baltimore through affordable and accessible programming opportunities.
Before she came to Goucher, Carter interned at a children’s museum in Philadelphia, which first sparked her interest in experiential learning and community-centered educational spaces. When she contacted Goucher about transferring, she hoped to continue building that path through hands-on work in Baltimore.
“I was treated wonderfully. They took my passion and my abilities and created a program for me where I could continue my education but also follow my path. I was embraced,” Carter says.
At Goucher, her studies as a history major included hands-on archival and preservation work at Hampton Mansion, where she helped organize and document materials connected to the site’s history of slavery. The experience deepened her understanding of how institutions, storytelling, and public history shape civic life and community understanding.
As both a civic leader and parent, Carter believes supporting children also means supporting the adults and systems surrounding them. “Children thrive when caregivers and communities feel supported too,” she says. “Our work is really about connection—helping families feel welcomed, helping children experience joy and discovery, and making sure access to learning and cultural experiences is not limited by zip code.”
During her years at Baltimore School for the Arts, Carter had a realization that continues to shape her work today. While transporting students to performances, she came to understand that many of those students had never visited the zoo, aquarium, or science center despite growing up in the region.
“My work now is directly connected to those car rides,” Carter says. “It’s about exposure, access, possibility, and making sure children feel connected to the city and opportunities around them.”
At the center of her work is the belief that education extends far beyond the classroom. Through partnerships, cultural access initiatives, and community collaboration, Carter continues to advocate for a Baltimore where all children and families can experience creativity, belonging, and opportunity.