PacSci Names Kevin Malgesini as President & Chief Executive Officer

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Pacific Science Center (PacSci) is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin Malgesini as President & CEO. Kevin joins PacSci from Seattle Children’s Theatre (SCT), where he has served as Managing Director since 2018. Prior to SCT, Kevin was Advancement Director at Town Hall Seattle and Donor Relations Manager at Intiman Theatre. In these roles, Kevin has built a strong record of organizational leadership, fundraising, and community engagement.

Kevin succeeds Will Daugherty who has served as PacSci’s President & CEO since December 2015. Kevin’s appointment follows a thoughtful leadership succession process initiated by the Board and Will in early 2022.

Kevin will begin his service at PacSci on June 1, enabling a month of overlap prior to Will’s last day on June 30, 2026.

Statements from leadership

Jembaa Mai, Board Chair, pacsci

“Kevin is an exceptional leader who brings vision and deep community connection. The Board is enthusiastic for this appointment and confident that Kevin is the right person to carry our mission of igniting curiosity and fostering a passion for discovery forward. We are profoundly grateful to Will Daugherty for the extraordinary foundation he has built over more than a decade, and we could not be more excited to see what Kevin will accomplish as he takes the helm.”

Sarah buhayar, Board member & chair of the ceo selection committee, pacsci

“As Chair of the Selection Committee, I’m excited to welcome Kevin as the new CEO of PacSci. Throughout the interview process, it was clear that Kevin has the ability to manage a complex & impactful program, as well as a proven track record in capacity building. Importantly, he can also inspire others around a shared mission. We are confident that Kevin’s leadership will strengthen PacSci’s impact for years to come.”

Kevin Malgesini, Incoming president & ceo, pacsci

“It is an honor to join Pacific Science Center at this pivotal moment. PacSci has long been a foundational institution in our region, connecting generations of families to science, discovery, and hands-on learning. The impact has shaped my own family’s experience-from my father’s visit during the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, to my own childhood visits, to now sharing it with my son. I am inspired by the organization’s mission and the strength of its team. As we look to the future, there is clear opportunity to extend PacSci’s reach and relevance-continuing to expand access, strengthening community partnerships, and evolving how we engage people of all ages in science and innovation.”

Will daugherty, president & ceo, Pacsci

“I am thrilled to welcome Kevin and support him as he takes responsibility for leading this great institution. I’m proud of what we have accomplished during my time as PacSci’s CEO, especially expanding access to programming at our physical campus and in communities across the entire state. I’m grateful to the Board of Directors, my colleagues, and our many supporters. I’m excited to see PacSci’s impact grow with Kevin as CEO.”

frequently asked questions

Who is Kevin Malgesini?

Kevin Malgesini is a Seattle-based nonprofit leader with a track record of guiding organizations through growth, transformation, and long-term strategic positioning. Since 2018, he has served as Managing Director of Seattle Children’s Theatre, where he has led major institutional initiatives, strengthen financial performance, and advanced partnerships that expand community impact. His leadership is grounded in collaboration, operational discipline, and a focus on building organizations that are both mission-driven and financially sustainable.

Kevin was born and raised in Central Washington. He holds a BA from Western Washington University and an MA from The Seattle School of Psychology and Theology, as well as a certificate in nonprofit management from the University of Washington. Kevin lives in the Central District with his husband Johnathan and their son Harris.

What is Kevin’s background?

Kevin brings more than 15 years of leadership experience in Seattle’s nonprofit and cultural sector, with deep expertise in fundraising, strategic planning and organizational development.

Prior to joining Seattle Children’s Theatre, Kevin served as Advancement Director at Town Hall Seattle, where he led a successful $30 million campaign to restore and modernize the organization’s landmarked, historic First Hill venue. The effort strengthened Town Hall’s long-term sustainability and expanded its role as a civic and cultural gathering place.

Kevin’s connection to Seattle Center spans his career. He began early leadership work at Intiman Theatre, where he held roles in Development and later served on the Board of Trustees, including as Board President. Through this work he developed a deep understanding of Seattle Center as a cultural hub, and the importance of institutions that serve broad and diverse audiences.
At Seattle Children’s Theatre, Kevin has helped lead a period of significant transformation—strengthening financial health, building a high-performing team, advancing major philanthropic support, and overseeing capital improvements to enhance accessibility and the overall guest experience.

What attributes of Kevin’s background & expertise were especially compelling to the Selection Committee & Board?

The Board sought a leader who combines strategic vision, operational discipline, fundraising capacity, and deep community connection, along with the ability to inspire staff, partners, and the communities we serve.

• A visionary leader with the ability to inspire diverse audiences, from visitors and donors to community partners and educators, while maintaining the operational and financial discipline the organization has built over the past decade.
• Someone with experience managing complex organizations, a demonstrated ability to drive financial performance and manage organizations of meaningful scale, a track record in fundraising and donor engagement, and a genuine passion for science, STEM, and curiosity-driven learning.
• An inspirational storyteller who can articulate a compelling vision for the future.
• An approachable and emotionally intelligent leader who connects authentically with staff and community
• A strategic thinker who can navigate complexity while keeping the organization focused on mission and impact.
• Prior CEO experience and a proven ability to navigate complex stakeholder environments
• Familiarity with the nonprofit sector and a deep connection to the Seattle community.

Kevin aligns very well with each of these criteria. In Kevin, we found someone who has spent his career in the Seattle nonprofit community, building organizations and teams, growing philanthropic support, and connecting with audiences in the way that PacSci’s mission demands. At Seattle Children’s Theatre, he demonstrated the ability to lead a complex, multi-program organization with financial discipline while never losing sight of the mission. His advancement background gives him an instinct for donor relationships that is rare in a CEO candidate, and his warmth and authenticity came through clearly in every conversation we had with him.

What drew Kevin to PacSCi?

Kevin believes that PacSci represents a powerful and increasingly essential kind of institution—one that helps people engage directly with science, build understanding, and develop the habits of curiosity and inquiry that are critical in today’s world.

He is especially drawn by the strength of the organization and the nature of the impact. PacSci serves multiple generations at once, creating shared experiences for families, students, and communities that build connection over time. Institutional like this can functions as a kind of modern commons, where people from different backgrounds and perspectives come together around a shared sense of discovery.

PacSci has a clear mission, a dedicated team, and a long history of community impact. At the same time, there is a real opportunity to extend reach and relevance—inviting people back who have fond memories of the past, and inviting new audiences in for the first time. At PacSci, people have access to experiences that spark curiosity, help them think critically, ask better questions and engage with the world in a more informed way.

What are Kevin’s hopes & ideas for PacSci’s future?

Kevin’s focus is building from a position of strength. PacSci has an important role to play in our region—not only as a place for exploration and learning, but as a platform for engaging people with science in ways that are meaningful, relevant, and accessible to all.

Looking ahead Kevin sees opportunities in three key areas: expanding access so that even more people can engage with PacSci’s programs; strengthening partnerships across education, science, and industry; and continuing to evolve both on-site and community-based experiences to meet the expectations of today’s audiences.

At its best, PacSci helps people develop curiosity, critical thinking, and confidence needed to understand and shape the world around them. That work has broader implications for our region. When institutions like PacSci are strong, they contribute to a more connected, informed, and innovative community—and help build the capacity for the kind of creativity and problem-solving that drives the economies of tomorrow. Kevin’s goal is to extend that impact even further.

When will Kevin start?

Kevin will start on June 1. This includes a planned overlap period to support a smooth leadership transition.

Why is this leadership transition happening now?

The Board of Directors and Will agreed in early 2022 that he would serve as PacSci’s CEO through June 2026. Since then, the Board, Will, and the PacSci leadership team have been preparing for a thoughtful and well-planned transition.

What was the process for appointing Kevin?

The Board formed a Selection Committee in mid-2025 and appointed Sarah Buhayar to serve as Committee Chair. After evaluating proposals from several executive search firms, the Committee engaged Egon Zehnder, a firm with a proven track record of identifying exceptional executive talent. Egon Zehnder conducted a nation-wide search that included dozens of candidates. The Selection Committee and Egon Zehnder worked together to evaluate candidates, conducting multiple rounds of interviews, culminating in Kevin’s selection. The Board unanimously approved Kevin’s appointment at a meeting in mid-March.

How will Pacific Science Center ensure continuity of programming & operations during the transition?

PacSci has been planning for this transition over several years. The planned leadership overlap, combined with strong organizational systems, and an experienced leadership team, will ensure continuity across programs, partnerships, and operations.

The Board will remain actively engaged throughout the transition.

How does this leadership transition relate to PacSci’s recent real estate transaction & campus transformation?

The CEO transition and the real estate transaction have progressed in parallel and are not interdependent. The Board has maintained visibility across both efforts.

Both reflect PacSci’s commitment to long-term impact and sustainability. During the 10+ years in which Will has served as CEO, PacSci has navigated through an extraordinary range of challenges (including the profound operational and financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic) with an unwavering focus on mission impact, strategic growth, and financial sustainability. The campus transformation and real estate transaction are direct expressions of that commitment, creating the conditions for the incoming CEO to build on a strong foundation and continue advancing PacSci’s mission of igniting curiosity and fostering a passion for discovery in people of all ages.

What is the timeline for the Maker & Innovation Lab and other capital projects?

PacSci’s Maker & Innovation Lab is in active development, with a prototype space currently in place where the team is testing programming, iterating on exhibits, and learning from guests in real time. That hands-on prototyping is directly informing the long-term design of a more complete facility.

Over the next several months, PacSci will revisit and update the existing concept design in light of recent changes to the campus, exploring how the full Maker & Innovation Lab can best fit within the building. Schematic design is expected to begin in May 2026, with design development following later in the year.

The Maker & Innovation Lab will give guests of all ages the opportunity to engage in hands-on making, engineering, and design—from drop-in activity pods and facilitated programs to Makerspace workshops with specialized tools like 3D printers, laser cutters, and more. It reflects PacSci’s belief that the ability to design, innovate, and make things is a fundamental human capacity worth nurturing in people of all ages and backgrounds.

How will Kevin approach PacSci’s relationships with Seattle Center, the Space Needle, & other community partners?

PacSci has deep, longstanding relationships with Seattle Center, the Space Needle, and a broad network of community partners grounded in a shared belief that we can amplify one another’s impact in service of the broader Seattle community. Those relationships are built on mutual commitment and trust and are not dependent on any single leader. Will Daugherty has invested significantly in nurturing and expanding these partnerships over the course of his tenure, providing Kevin Malgesini with a strong foundation to continue that work. Kevin joins PacSci with a long and positive history collaborating with Seattle Center and the other resident organizations on campus.

How does this transition affect PacSci’s fundraising & philanthropic relationships?

PacSci’s Advancement team continues to drive fundraising and donor stewardship throughout the transition, and the Board remains actively engaged in supporting philanthropic priorities. The incoming CEO will be supported in building donor relationships from day one. With significant capital projects on the horizon, philanthropic investment remains a critical priority, and PacSci is committed to continuously building and advancing a compelling case for that support under the new CEO’s leadership.

What has PacSci accomplished during Will Daugherty’s leadership?

During the 10+ years in which Will has served as PacSci’s CEO, the organization developed the mission and guiding principles that now define how we make every decision, serve every visitor, and show up for every community we serve. We built a team, repaired our finances, deepened our roots in the region, and set us on a path toward a more sustainable and accessible future. The PacSci that exists today—our mission, guiding principles, campus, and relationships with the community—reflect more than a decade of intentional, collaborative work. Here is a look at what that work has made possible.

A Mission That Guides Everything We Do

In 2016, Will led the development of PacSci’s mission and guiding principles, establishing a clear organizational north star: to ignite curiosity in every child and fuel a passion for discovery, experimentation, and critical thinking in all of us. That clarity changed how we operate. It gave internal teams a shared framework for priorities and tradeoffs, and it gave external partners and funders a more coherent picture of who PacSci is and why our work matters. Day to day, it means every person on our team, from the floor staff welcoming a family through our doors to the leadership team making strategic decisions, is working from the same set of values and toward the same goal.

Building a Financially Sustainable Organization

During Will’s tenure, PacSci has retired substantial debt, weathered government funding cuts, and come through the pandemic. This progress has enabled PacSci to increase the focus on guest experience, diversify the revenue base, and develop a comprehensive real estate strategy. A significant outcome of that strategy is our new partnership with the Space Needle, which we anticipate will bring exciting new experiences and energy to our campus and community in the years ahead. We are proud of the progress we have made and confident in the foundation we have built to continue growing our mission.

Making Science Accessible to Every Family

Accessibility is not a single program or initiative at PacSci. It is a deliberate, ongoing commitment that requires us to continuously examine the barriers that keep families from engaging with science and to design thoughtful solutions to address them. During Will’s tenure, this work became a defining priority, and the programs and infrastructure we have built around accessibility reflect years of intentional investment in making PacSci a place that serves everyone in our region. Financial access, geographic reach, and the diverse ways in which people experience the world all factor into that work.

That commitment takes many forms. Our Access Family Membership, offered at $19 for a family, ensures that cost is not the reason a family cannot walk through our doors. We are proud to have thousands of Access Members as part of our community, and their presence reflects exactly the kind of organization we are committed to being.

Our Camps for Curious Minds scholarship program extends that same principle to summer learning. In the summer of 2025, we offered more than 300 full scholarships across six camp locations throughout King County, covering not just tuition but also daily lunches and extended care. Each scholarship represents a family for whom a summer camp may otherwise have been out of reach.

We have also invested meaningfully in making PacSci a welcoming environment for visitors of all abilities and sensory needs. Our Sensory-Friendly Hours and dedicated Sensory Lounge reflect an understanding that not everyone experiences a busy public space the same way, and that designing for inclusion requires paying close attention to those differences.

Programs, such as Science on Wheels and Digital Discovery Workshops, extend that commitment beyond our campus, bringing high-quality, hands-on science programming directly to Title I schools and schools serving high proportions of students on free and reduced lunch across Washington State, offered free or at reduced cost.

Investing in Making and Innovation

The ability to design, innovate, and build things is a human capacity worth nurturing at every age. For an organization whose mission is rooted in curiosity and critical thinking, a dedicated space for making and innovation is a natural and important extension of that work. The Maker & Innovation Lab has and will continue to give our community access to real tools, real materials, and real challenges, creating pathways for guests to develop skills and see new possibilities in themselves that they may not have known were there.

With Will’s guidance and support, PacSci moved this from concept to active prototyping, building the programmatic foundation and operational knowledge needed to develop a permanent facility with confidence. That work is ongoing. Planning and schematic design are underway, and the vision is well defined. Will is leaving this program with strong organizational alignment, a clear development roadmap, and a leadership team committed to seeing it through. The Maker & Innovation Lab represents one of the most significant investments PacSci will make in the decade ahead, and the groundwork laid under Will’s tenure puts us in a strong position to deliver on that promise.

Opening Our Courtyard to Seattle Center

The removal of the north gates is one of the most visible expressions of PacSci’s renewed relationship with Seattle Center and the broader community. For decades, those gates created a physical barrier between our campus and the people and institutions around us. Will prioritized this project as part of a broader effort to strengthen PacSci’s presence and accessibility within Seattle Center. Their removal restores an openness that was central to Minoru Yamasaki’s original 1962 vision for the space, and it has meaningfully deepened our partnership with Seattle Center, created new visibility for our campus, and signaled to the community that PacSci is a place that belongs to everyone.

A Commitment to Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, & Access

At PacSci, inclusion, diversity, equity, and access are not a program or an initiative. They are embedded in how we operate, how we make decisions, and how we show up for our community. Shortly after Will joined, we formalized that commitment, establishing clear organizational principles and introducing the Access to Science Pipeline in 2016 as an integrated set of programs designed to remove economic barriers and strengthen science education for families and schools with limited resources. We have built an expectation that every colleague, at every level of the organization, brings an IDEA lens to their work. We believe that curiosity and critical thinking are essential to equity and justice, and that an institution committed to both must hold itself accountable to that standard.

A Leadership Team Ready for What Comes Next

Will is leaving PacSci with confidence in the team and the organization he has helped build. The senior leadership team is experienced, mission-driven, and deeply aligned on where PacSci is headed. We have navigated significant challenges together and emerged with greater clarity and stronger organizational footing. The new CEO will be joined by a leadership team that is ready to partner, execute, and grow.

What are Will’s plans following his departure?

Will plans to remain active in the community through a variety of activities including service on local boards.