Donor Spotlight: Janet Shepherd February 21, 2025 Supporting MIM’s Legacy Circle is an “investment in life” Volunteer team member Janet Shepherd has been enamored with MIM since before the museum opened, so joining MIM’s Legacy Circle was an easy decision. “MIM is a world-class institution,” she says. “Not only a national treasure, but I think an international treasure.” Janet Shepherd joined MIM’s Legacy Circle in 2021. MIM’s Legacy Circle honors people who have included gifts to MIM in their wills, trusts, retirement plans, or life insurance policies. Joining MIM’s Legacy Circle with a planned gift helps members like Janet support MIM’s mission and ensure the museum’s continuing impact. “Music is just such a core, integral part of life,” Janet says. “MIM encompasses history, geography, art, literature, poetry, anthropology—the whole gamut.” Janet learned of MIM in 2009, when she noticed a sign on the corner of Mayo and Tatum Boulevards that read “Future Home of the Musical Instrument Museum.” She had always loved music, and she became more interested in the building’s unique architecture every time she passed by the construction site. In April 2010, she attended the first concert at the MIM Music Theater and took her first tour of MIM’s galleries. When Janet retired from her career as a speech language pathologist in 2013, she joined MIM’s volunteer team to share the power of music with guests. She admires the museum’s varied, all-ages programming and is inspired by MIM’s mission of fostering appreciation for the cultures of the world. “When you walk through the doors of MIM, you experience a place of discovery, positive energy, and pure joy,” she says. In 2021, Janet joined MIM’s Legacy Circle to help sustain the museum’s uplifting impact on people from around the world. “For me, it’s an honor and a privilege to be able to leave a legacy to MIM,” Janet says. “The programs, the offerings—it’s just an investment in life.” Learn more about creating your charitable legacy through planned giving and receiving recognition in MIM’s Legacy Circle.
