#DismantlePreservation was launched in 2020, to advocate for change in the preservation movement. Together we have advocated for labor equity via salary transparency and have had conversations on a WIDE range of topics. In 2021, the labor equity campaign will continue and who knows what other directions #DismantlePreservation will go. Today we celebrate 40+ people who are pushing preservation in new directions. The #DismantlePreservation: (un)Official 40 Under 40 list is comprised of people and groups who work in cultural resources in a wide variety of ways - parks, museums, nonprofits, government, consulting, development etc.. * These are people who are doing inspiring work; they are people from whom we could all learn. They are part of the future of the historic preservation movement.
Adesbah Foguth
“Adesbah Foguth is Diné, a member of the Navajo Nation, and of the Two Waters Flow Together Clan. Adesbah holds a BA in English & Philosophy and masters degree in Public Archaeology from the University of New Mexico. She has worked as a public school teacher on the Navajo Nation, as an archaeologist in northern New Mexico, and is currently a federal park ranger. Adesbah is the creator of the Native Power Rangers Instagram page, an educational page dedicated to decolonizing federal parks and public lands, highlighting Indigenous park rangers, and enhancing awareness and understanding of Indigenous culture and history.”
Link(s): Native Power Rangers Instagram
Photo Credit/Source: Adesbah Foguth
Ang Li
“Ang Li is an architect and Assistant Professor at the School of Architecture at Northeastern University. Her research and creative practice investigate the maintenance practices and material afterlives of the contemporary building industry.
Ang has participated in exhibitions at the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum in Milwaukee, the Echo Art Fair in Buffalo, and the Lisbon Architecture Triennale. Her writing and work have been published in Log, Clog, Thresholds, Manifest, Abitare, Wired, and Blueprint. Before joining the faculty at Northeastern she was a Visiting Artist at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the 2015–16 Peter Reyner Banham Fellow at the University at Buffalo. She holds a BA in architecture from the University of Cambridge and an M.Arch. from Princeton University.”
Link(s): Ang Li’s Website
Photo Credit/Source: angliprojects.com
Alissa Shelton
Alissa Shelton is a facilitator, citizen-developer, and community activist in Hamtramck, an enclave of Detroit, MI. She was most recently the first Executive Director at Brick + Beam Detroit, an organization which grows capacity and community around home repair and building rehabilitation. Before coming to B+BD, she was the Director of Training for Incremental Development Alliance, a nonprofit focused on citizen-led real estate development, where she worked on the national workshop and training series.
She is the owner and co-founder of 1920s corner bank building, turned Chop Suey restaurant, turned community space. From 2015-2020 Bank Suey was an experiment in how we use main street spaces, exploring layered uses and curated programming-- hosting over 200 gatherings with 3000+ attendees, in partnership with 60+ community groups. The space has now evolved to solely house Book Suey, a co-operatively run book store.
Alissa consults on creative-driven real estate projects, and is currently working on finding a home for The Zimbabwe Cultural Center of Detroit.
She and her partner are stewards of a 100+-year-old Hamtramck duplex, which they rent out, and are in the process of fixing up a 1923 bungalow, where they live. She is a Licensed Builder in the state of Michigan, a 2017 Salzburg Global Fellow (Young Cultural Innovator seminar), and holds a BSc. in Psychology from Wayne State University.
Alissa is endlessly curious and committed to how we build places together- both physically and through community.
Link(s): Alissa Shelton’s Instagram
Photo Source/Credit: Alissa Shelton
Briana Grosicki
“Briana Grosicki is Associate Principal at PlaceEconomics. In this capacity, she helps balance the firm’s unabashed pursuit of analytical research with practical steps to maximize productivity. Grosicki is a self-proclaimed local government nerd and won’t turn down the chance to see the inside of a historic building. Her thorough knowledge of municipal preservation programs, civic data, real estate development, and advocacy add value to PlaceEconomics work and the preservation field.
Grosicki is active on a national stage as the Chairwoman of Preservation Action and on the Board of Directors for the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions. She is also a member of the Revolving Fund Committee for Historic Savannah Foundation. She previously served as Chair on her local municipal historic preservation commission in Muncie, Indiana and led a citywide parcel survey called ScoutMuncie. In 2019, she was honored with the Dick Greene Memorial Historic Preservation Award for Promoting Historic Preservation in Muncie. Grosicki received a self-designed BS in the Study of the Built Environment from the College of William and Mary and an MS in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania. She currently lives in Savannah, GA in a 1919 home with her husband, daughter, and dog.”
Link(s): Briana Grosicki’s LinkedIn
Photo Credit/Source: Briana Grosicki
Caitlin Meives
“Caitlin Meives is the Director of Preservation at The Landmark Society of Western New York, a regional not-for-profit historic preservation organization based in Rochester and serving a nine-county area in western New York. Caitlin holds a M.S. in historic preservation from the University of Vermont and B.A. in history and Spanish from the University of Rochester. Prior to her employment at The Landmark Society in 2010, she served as the Survey Coordinator at the Kansas State Historic Preservation Office. In her position at The Landmark Society, Caitlin works directly with municipal officials, developers, neighborhood and community advocates, and property owners of all types to assist in the rehabilitation and revitalization of historic buildings, structures, landscapes, and communities. She is also the co-founder and President of The Landmark Society’s Young Urban Preservationists.”
Link(s): Caitlin Meives’ Instagram
Photo Credit/Source: Caitlin Meives
Cheyney McKnight
“Cheyney is the Living History Coordinator at New-York Historical Society as well as owner of Not Your Momma’s History, a public history consulting business that aids museums, historical sites, historical societies, and private businesses in developing specialized programing about the African experience within 18th and 19th century America. She trains staff from all backgrounds on how to talk about slavery with diverse audiences.
She has interpreted 18th, early 19th and mid 19th century slavery as a Living Historian in 26 states, and has worked with over 45 historic sites. Cheyney uses her costuming and research to make connections between past and present events through performance art pieces.”
Link(s): Not Your Momma’s History Website
Photo Source/Credit: Cheyney McKnight
Danei Cesario
“Danei Cesario AIA, RIBA, NCARB, NOMA is the 333rd black female architect in American history. Hailing from Manchester, England, she became enamored at an early age with New York City’s intricacies + architectural prestige. She is an internationally licensed architect, project manager, + public speaker. Equipped with exceptional communication and organizational skills, she thrives in both team-oriented and self-directed environments, diligently managing design from parti to post-occupancy. She is currently an Associate at SOM, leading dynamic mixed-use development, healthcare + wellness projects.
WALLEN+daub was born one late night while our founder, Danei Cesario, was at City College of New York, studying Architecture. She wanted to create a space in support of the brilliant contributors of architecture, STEM industries + design. This would be a space to educate through shared information + experiences, share their diverse stories to empower others, help to retain talent through engagement + encourage cross-pollination for expansion across our creative industries. The idea evolved at every step of her career.”
Link(s): WALLEN + daub Website
Photo Source/Cred: WALLEN + daub website
Daniel White
“Since completing his thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in September 2017, Daniel “The Blackalachian” White has been challenging himself to keep getting outside. In 2018, he biked the Underground Railroad from Alabama to Canada. This past year, White completed the Great Outdoors Challenge, a coast-to-coast hike across Scotland, and the Camino del Norte, a 518-mile trek along the northern coast of Spain. As for what’s next, he’s still trying to decide what 2020 will look like.
“Either I’m trying to hike 5,000 miles or buy land to start a homestead in Maine, which can also double as a summer camp/educational skills retreat for at-risk youth,” White said. “Whatever funding allows.””
Link(s): The Blackalachian Instagram
Photo Source/Credit: Daniel White
Daniel Luis Martinez
“Daniel Luis Martinez is an architectural designer and educator. He has worked at leading architectural firms in New York, including Allied Works and Weiss/Manfredi, and has contributed to the design and realization of projects rooted in the arts, education, creative disciplines, and horticulture. Daniel is currently an assistant professor at Indiana University’s J. Irwin Miller Architecture Program. He was a 2019 Exhibit Columbus University Design Research Fellow and the recipient of an AIA Henry Adams Medal in 2012. His research focuses on the development of multi-disciplinary design methods and his writing has been published in notable journals, such as Mas Context, San Rocco, Clog, Project Journal and Engawa.”
Link(s): LAA Office Website
Photo Source/Credit: LAA Office Website
Darryl Reano
“Darryl Reano is a geologist and geoscience educator from Acoma Pueblo, an Indigenous community in New Mexico. His B.S. degree is in geology from New Mexico State University. Darryl completed his M.S. (geology) and Ph.D. (geoscience education) in the Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science Department at Purdue University.
Darryl’s dissertation focused on creating introductory geoscience educational materials that are place-based and culturally relevant for Indigenous students. This project involved the use of Indigenous Research Frameworks, which bring a sociohistorical perspective to creating more holistic approaches to teaching and learning that are also equitable and inclusive.
Darryl has also mentored many undergraduate and graduate students through various programs such as the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership (SIGP), the Alliance for Graduate Education through the Professoriate (AGEP), and the Indigenous Integration of Aquatic Science and Traditional-Ecological-Knowledge for Undergraduate Culturally Responsive Education (i-NATURE) program. Darryl regularly presents his research at conference gatherings including: the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), the Geoscience Alliance, the American Educational Research Association, the Geological Society of America (GSA), and the American Geophysical Union.”
Link(s): Darryl Reano’s Twitter
Photo Source/Credit: Florida International University
Death to Museums
Death to Museums is an unconference created by emerging professionals who graduated from a museum studies master’s program amidst a global pandemic. It is a monthly dialogue series that promotes solidarity and exchange among museum workers through wide-ranging workshops, presentations, and social activities. We hope that Death to Museums can become a platform to share ideas and concerns while brainstorming ways to push the field forward. Follow us @deathtomuseums on Twitter and Instagram for updates, and catch up on our sessions on Youtube.
June Ahn (she/her/hers)
June is a Chicago-based museum educator, program facilitator, and illustrator. She received her B.A. in Biological Sciences and Landscape Studies from Smith College and M.A. in Museum and Exhibition Studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has worked at laboratories at the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew and the University of Chicago. Her graduate research at the University of Illinois at Chicago focused on creating informal plant education opportunities for students in collaboration with the UIC Plant Research Laboratory. The series of 23 programs consisted of interdisciplinary collaborations with artists, educators, and scientists that centers visitor accessibility. She has coordinated community science events for the Field Museum of Natural History and is currently the Sustainability and Green Space Coordinator at the National Public Housing Museum.
Rose Cannon (she/her/hers)
Rose is a Chicago-based arts administrator and museum educator currently working as the Administrative & Marketing Coordinator for the Midwest Chapter of the American Association of Media Photographers (ASMP). Rose is primarily interested in expanding access to creative resources and careers in the arts through alliances between art spaces, schools, non-profits, and social service organizations. To this end, her graduate research took the form of a partnership with Chicago non-profit One Heart One Soul and young adults with lived experience of homelessness to organize an exhibition at a university gallery. Previously, Rose has worked at the Bay Area Discovery Museum, the Oakland Museum of California, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, and the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History. She received her B.A. in the History of Art & Visual Culture from the University of California at Santa Cruz and her M.A. in Museum and Exhibition Studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Emma Turner-Trujillo (she/her/hers)
Emma is a Chicago-based museum collections specialist. She received her B.A. in Mesoamerican Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles, and received her M.A. in Museum and Exhibition Studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has worked in a number of museums, including the Getty Museum and the National Veterans Art Museum, and is presently the assistant registrar in anthropology at the Field Museum of Natural History. Her research interests include indigenous Mexican codices, the history of pre-Columbian collections in the United States, and repatriation of looted burial goods. Her graduate project led to the creation of the Ancient American Provenance Database, which digitally reunited collections of Andean ceramics housed in geographically distant locations across the United States and Europe.
Link(s): Death to Museums Website
Deland Chan
“Deland Chan is an educator, researcher, and urban planner. Her work bridges the fields of urban studies and environmental studies to understand urbanization pathways and cities as the future home to over two-thirds of humanity. Deland was appointed to serve on the San Francisco Planning Commission in May 2020.
As Director of Community Engaged Learning in the Program on Urban Studies at Stanford, Deland teaches project-based classes where students collaborate with non-profit organizations and government agencies on sustainability projects. In 2014, she co-founded the Stanford Human Cities Initiative as a platform to encourage cross-disciplinary approaches to tackle urban challenges. Before Stanford, Deland previously worked as a Senior Planner at the Chinatown Community Development Center in San Francisco and led transportation and land use planning efforts.
Deland received a B.A with honors in Urban Studies and an M.A. in Sociology from Stanford University, and a Master in City Planning from the University of California at Berkeley. She is pursuing a DPhil in Sustainable Urban Development at the University of Oxford funded by the Clarendon Scholarship to research grassroots sustainability initiatives in Asian American immigrant communities through a political economy and intersectionality lens. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and a LEED Accredited Professional. A native New Yorker who has called the Bay Area home for 15+ years, Deland enjoys exploring cities by bicycle and running half-marathons.”
Link(s): Deland Chan’s Website
Photo Source/Credit: Deland Chan’s Website
Desiree Aranda
“Desiree Aranda is an independent cultural heritage consultant and planner based in Phoenix, Arizona. She is also a co-founder and co-chair of the national nonprofit, Latinos in Heritage Conservation. Previously, she worked at the San Francisco Planning Department as a preservation planner and for San Francisco Heritage as a project manager and later, deputy director. For the past decade, her work has focused on documenting and elevating stories and important places associated with communities of color and other marginalized social groups. While in San Francisco, she helped formulate and pass legislation that established the city's Legacy Business Program and the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District. Currently, she is working with Chispa Arizona to advocate for the preservation of the state's diverse public lands. Desiree earned a bachelor’s of arts in sociology and women’s studies from the University of Georgia and a master’s of science in planning from the University of Arizona. She is an alumna of the ROHO Advanced Oral History Institute at the University of California, Berkeley and the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures Leadership Institute.”
Link(s): Desiree Aranda’s LinkedIn
Latinos in Heritage Conservation Website
Latinos in Heritage Conservation Instagram
Photo Source/Credit: Desiree Aranda
Donald Boerger
“My name is Donald Boerger, I am a graduate of The Ohio State University, where I earned a degree in Regional & City Planning. I live in Marysville, Ohio where I currently serve as the city councilman for ward 4. My ward encompasses the majority of Marysville’s Historic District where I currently live in my great grandmother’s 119 year old home. I attended my first city council meeting when I was 12 to ask council and administration to create public policy to preserve and maintain our community’s aging architecture. I became the youngest Planning Commission member to serve the City of Marysville. I continued to use my resources to serve on several boards and commissions where I was able to work alongside Union County commissioners, Union County Chamber of Commerce, and Marysville City staff to create a Marysville’s Historic District master plan. In 2019, I made the decision to successfully run for Marysville’s City Council Ward 4 representative.
I have become a human seal for my community. I am a public servant, tour guide, and city zealot.”
Link(s): Donald Boerger’s Instagram
Photo Source/Credit: Donald Boerger
Dox Thrash House
“This project takes on the design justice practice platform developed to establish a socially and environmentally just code of ethics for operating as designers of the built environment. This initiative is black led and acknowledges our role and responsibility in creating spaces of racial, cultural, and class equity. The project will mitigate the years of disinvestment into this community by the city- and revive the cultural life in this section fo the city. The goals are to save the Dox Thrash House and secure its economic future along the Cecil B. Moore business corridor, as well as secure and sustain current residents of the Sharswood neighborhood to remain in their homes and community by preserving their lived past and bringing in new black businesses that reflect their values and chosen needs.”
Project led by Maya Thomas, Andrea Haley, Chris Mulford, and Dana Rice
Link(s): Dox Thrash House Website
Photo Source/Credit: Dox Thrash Ioby Campaign
Erin Claussen
“I’m Erin, an archaeologist who’s evolved into a preservationist and small real estate developer. Since I was very little I’ve been drawn to things that are old and the stories attached to them, made up or true. And mysteries. Now I dig up clues, in archives, in walls, from the ground sometimes still too (archaeologist first) to help write the histories of places and things. I get to see that they’re understood and preserved for the future. And in the process of working on my own old home and my real estate development projects, I get to play with my preoccupation since early adulthood, design, at all levels: object, room, building, site, neighborhood, city. It’s been a winding path, but I couldn’t be more thrilled to have arrived “here”, including Toledo, Ohio.
I have a B.A. in Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an M.A. in Anthropology, Historical Archaeology from Western Michigan University. I am the founder and principal of Toledo Revival, a heritage management consulting and real estate development company. I’m also a co-founder of Preserve Toledo, a non-profit supporting historic preservation in Toledo and Northwest Ohio through education, advocacy, and action. Finally, I am one of the newest board members of Heritage Ohio.”
Link(s): Toledo Revival Website
Photo Source/Credit: Toledo Revival Website
Housing JV
“John Delia is Co-Founder and CEO of Housing Joint Venture. He specializes in repositioning value-added properties in inner cities across the American Midwest. An expert deal maker and strategist, he began his career in real estate at age 18. He is the author of Life, Liberty n’ Property: A Guide to Successful Real Estate Investing. John actively manages a portfolio that houses residents from 4 continents and is valued in excess of $1.5 million. He resides in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife Richelle and their miniature Goldendoodle puppy.
Richelle Delia, Ph.D. is Co-Founder and COO of Housing Joint Venture. Dr. Delia advocates for impact real estate investing as a tool for building wealth through speaking engagements, leading investor education and seeking strategic partnerships.
With experience as a materials scientist, investor and Fulbright scholar, she brings technical expertise in building materials development and practical know-how from redeveloping over $2 million of property for her personal investment portfolio. Dr. Delia holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and lives in Columbus OH with her husband John.”
Link(s): Housing JV Website
Photo Source/Credit: Housing JV Website
House of Tulip
“House of Tulip is a Community Land Trust launched in the summer of 2020 to create housing solutions for trans and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) people in Louisiana.”
“We’re building community.
We’re raising funds to buy and restore a multi-family property in an area of New Orleans that’s accessible to health care and employment opportunities. This will be our pilot permanent housing campus, and it will house up to 10 TGNC people at a time.
In addition, we’re working to acquire a separate space that can serve as a community center where TGNC people can safely access social safety net navigation, community programming, a hot meal, a shower, or a safe place to just hang out or do schoolwork. “
“We are Milan Nicole Sherry, Mariah Moore, Sultana Isham, Camilla Marchena, Dylan Waguespack, and Ben Collongues.”
Link(s): House of Tulip Website
Photo Source/Credit: House of Tulip Website
Huy Pham
“Huy Pham graduated from Ball State University with master's degrees in Historic Preservation and Communication Studies. Since joining the City of San Antonio's Office of Historic Preservation three years ago, he has had the privilege of working with like-minded team members to innovate processes in local government and public outreach in order to bring historic preservation into the 21st century. Between managing hundreds of traditional design review cases every year, Huy also coordinates with other city departments and national wireless providers to find sensible solutions for 5G roll out in protected urban corridors and historic districts. With an apparent spark for technology and The Internet™, Huy also produces content for the Office of Historic Preservations's growing YouTube channel HPTV for recorded workshops, webinars, testimonies, and occasional programming such as "Historic Reservations: Exploring San Antonio's Food Culture in Adaptive Reuse and Legacy Businesses". As the youngest member of Preservation Action, a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization created in 1974 to serve as the national grassroots lobby for historic preservation, and the Power of Preservation, a coalition of advocates, businesses, neighborhoods, and agencies interested in promoting the literal “power” of preservation in San Antonio, Huy is thankful to the old guard for consistently encouraging and implementing his new ideas.”
Link(s): Huy Pham’s LinkedIn
Photo Source/Credit: Huy Pham
Jerald Cooper
“Launched in December 2019, @hoodmidcenturymodern catapulted to fame as Instagram’s leading Black voice in architecture. HOOD CENTURY fills an industry gap as a preservation society for the streets, centering communities traditionally excluded from the conversation. This is preservation for us, by us.
With HOOD CENTURY, Jerald Cooper utilizes pop culture and classic hip-hop imagery from an architectural and design point-of-view with the intention of introducing a new audience to architecture discourse, and in doing so, generating a new way of connecting his followers to their built environment.”
Link(s): Hood Century Website
Photo Source/Credit: Jerald Cooper
The Jingle Dress Project Dancers
Conceptualized by photographer Eugene Tapahe, the #DismantlePreservation: (un)Official 40 Under 40 list would specifically like to honor the dancers who been a part of this project - Dion Tapahe, Erin Tapahe, Joanni Begay, and Sunni Begay.
“Our project originated from a dream to unite the beauty of the land and the healing power of the jingle dance during these uncertain times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The origin of the jingle dance to the Ojibwe people happened during the influenza pandemic of 1918-19. It came as a dream to a father whose daughter was sick with the virus. His dream revealed the new dress and dance that had the power to heal. When the dresses were made, they were given to four women to perform the dance. When the little girl heard the sound of the jingles, she became stronger. By the end of the night she was dancing too.
Our dream is to take this healing power to the land, to travel and capture a series of images to document the spiritual places where our ancestors once walked. Our goal is to unite and give hope to the world through art, dance and culture to help us heal together. We will travel the land and capture a series of powerful images to document spiritual places where our ancestors once walked. I hope you will join us on this spiritual journey, follow us on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK for project updates. If you have any questions EMAIL us.”
Link(s): Art Heals: The Jingle Dress Project Video
Art Heals: The Jingle Dress Project Website
Photo Source/Credit: Tapahe Photography
Jordan Ryan
“Jordan Ryan is an interdisciplinary architectural historian, archivist, and activist-scholar working at the intersection of historic preservation, urban planning, marginalized communities, and the digital humanities. Their scholarship centers on displacement, redlining, urban highways, affordable housing, and LGBTQ historic sites. They have an MA in Public History from IUPUI and a BA in Art History from the Herron School of Art & Design. Ryan serves on the boards of Preserve Greater Indy (a Rust Belt Coalition of Young Preservationists’ affiliate) and the local historic neighborhood advocacy group, Historic Urban Neighborhoods of Indianapolis (HUNI). In their free time, Ryan enjoys - slowly - rehabbing an 1867 vernacular cottage in a downtown neighborhood.
Contact:
Ryan recently launched their own independent research consulting service, The History Concierge.”
Link(s): The History Concierge Website
José Guadalupe Adonis González Rosales
“I am a professional educator with training in the fields of education and conservation while engaging in different artistic endeavors with art and messaging—often exploring the intersection of the environment and culture.
I play with design, words, science, and education—engaging in the interdisciplinary intersections of how we view and engage with the world. Be it a piece of art or scientific fact, I like to weave ideas with people while appreciating the beauty of it all.
I navigate through a self-created identity of a "Green Chicano" in a professional sense. In particular I am weaving through the roles of Conservationist/Environmentalist, Chicano, and Educator. Throw into the mix a bit about other things such as being Latino nerd, illustrator, and the like.”
Link(s): Jose González Website
Photo Source: Jose González Website
Kalpa Baghasingh
“Kalpa is a Senior Associate and Architect at Schooley Caldwell, one of the top ten architectural firms in central Ohio. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a dual masters degree in Architecture and Urban Planning, and with a specialization in Preservation. With this background, she provides a holistic and contextual approach to design, whether it is interior renovation, master planning or both. She has worked on a variety of building types, and manages complex projects with a keen sense of attention to detail. Many of Kalpa’s projects involve in-depth historical research, historic preservation tax credits, accessibility and code issues, and feasibility and space planning. Kalpa is passionate about protection of cultural heritage places, and has actively participated in local preservation communities. She is a founding board member of the non-profit group Young Ohio Preservationists, dedicated to bringing awareness and outreach to the younger generation and providing a network for emerging professionals. She currently lives in Seattle, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, a state-wide non-profit dedicated to saving the places that matter in Washington State and to promoting sustainable and economically viable communities through historic preservation. She calls herself an “accidental artist” and is a budding children's book illustrator. She loves to travel to lesser known places and adores handwritten letters.”
Link(s): Kalpa Baghasingh’s LinkedIn
Photo Source/Credit: Kalpa Baghasingh
Kristen Hayashi
“Kristen Hayashi is Director of Collections Management & Access and Curator at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. She is a public historian with experience ranging from collections and curatorial work in museums to board leadership for the Little Tokyo Historical Society (LTHS) and Asian Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation (APIAHiP). Her interest in the intersection of historic preservation and Japanese American history has led her to write several historic landmark designations on behalf of the Little Tokyo Historical Society at the local and federal levels. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in History from the University of California, Riverside and a B.A. in American Studies from Occidental College. “
Link(s): Kristen Hayashi’s LinkedIn
Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation
Little Tokyo Historical Society - Japanese Hospital Landmark Designation
Photo Source/Credit: Kristen Hayashi
Kristen Jeffers
“Kristen Jeffers was born and raised in Greensboro, NC as the only child of two parents who instilled in her the value of storytelling, well-made objects and a sense of place. Over a decade ago, she created The Black Urbanist, a multimedia platform that highlights Black Queer Feminist Urbanist design, planning and practice. And five years ago, in her first year of living outside of North Carolina,itching to honor the textile history of her hometown, and to have something to do as she adjusted to life on the road, she started Kristpattern, a surface pattern and yarn pattern venture. She has lectured all over the US and Canada on sustainable and inclusive urban design and she would love to have you pop in on a lesson at her online Black Queer Feminist Urbanist School or follow along as she creates designs you can carry with you no matter what over @kristpattern or @blackurbanist.”
Link(s): Kristen Jeffers Website
Photo Source/Credit: Kristen Jeffers
Lacey Wilson
“Lacey Wilson is the Site Manager for the Charlotte Hawkins Brown State Historic Site in Gibsonville, NC where she is honored to continue to tell the story or Dr. Brown and the Palmer Memorial Institute. Lacey holds an M.A. in History with a concentration in Museum Studies from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), where she collaborated on "Etched in Stone? Governor Charles Aycock and the Power of Commemoration," a permanent exhibition and winner of the 2019 Award of Excellence and the 2019 History in Progress Award from the American Association for State and Local History. Prior to the Hawkins Brown site, Lacey worked as a historic interpreter at the Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters in Savannah, GA. teaching economics and politics in urban slavery from the 1810s to the 1850s. This work was highlighted in The New York Times and on NPR’s 1A radio show. She is an active member of the National Council of Public History, where she serves on the Advocacy Committee, and the Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Additionally, she is an active member of the Black Interpreters Guild, promoting black interpreters' work across this country.”
Link(s): Lacey Wilson’s Twitter
Photo Source/Credit: Hunter McRae
Laiken Jordahl
“Laiken Jordahl works with the Center for Biological Diversity to protect communities and wildlife throughout the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. He’s spent his recent years documenting Trump’s border wall rip through wilderness areas and endangered species habitat while mounting a movement of resistance to the administration’s assault on those who call the border region home. His written work has been featured in the New York Times, the Arizona Republic, the Austin American-Statesman and elsewhere.
Before joining the Center, Laiken worked as a naturalist with the National Park Service studying threats facing wilderness lands around the West. Working at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument — a remote wilderness area that’s become the epicenter of migrant death and disappearance in the borderlands — he was stunned to see Border Patrol agents driving thousands of miles off-road, crushing endangered species habitat and destroying sensitive landscapes with impunity, all while funneling hundreds of migrants to their deaths each year. This experience propelled him out of the bureaucratic world of wilderness policy and into his role as an activist with the Center.
When he’s not organizing protests and fighting creeping fascism along the border, Laiken spends his time playing chess, skateboarding and searching out backcountry hot springs. Laiken has also worked as a bike mechanic, a clam farmer, and a legislative fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives.”
Link(s): Laiken Jordahl’s Twitter
Photo Source/Credit: Laiken Jordahl
Lindsay Jones
“As the owner and CEO of Blind Eye Restoration, Lindsay has made a living out of her passion for old buildings and fine art. She started BER to offer her blended experience as a historical consultant and a contractor, and to share her passion about the environmental benefits and community development that preservation affords. Lindsay aims to help share these benefits with the general public through social engagement, educational workshops and speaking, and supporting younger generations (especially girls) who are interested in working in the preservation trades. Alongside leading her crew in completing their restoration work, Lindsay sits on the boards for the APT Eastern Great Lakes Chapter and Young Ohio Preservationists, was featured in Preservation Magazine, and regularly teaches educational workshops with Columbus Landmarks and Heritage Ohio.”
Link(s): Blind Eye Restoration Website
Blind Eye Restoration Instagram
Photo Source/Credit: Lindsay Jones
Lindsey Dotson
“Lindsey Dotson is the Main Street DDA Director in Charlevoix, Michigan - a summer tourist destination with a year round population of 2,500. She has a Masters in Historic Preservation from Eastern Michigan University and obtained her bachelors at Grand Valley State University. Lindsey is a certified Main Street America Revitalization Professional and prior to arriving in Charlevoix in 2016, she had worked in two other Michigan Main Street communities totaling over 8 years of experience in downtown management. Lindsey has a passion for downtown walkability/accessibility, public engagement, and the historic built environment. She volunteers as a member of the Charlevoix Historical Society Board and serves as the Buildings and Grounds chair. She also is the staff liaison for the City of Charlevoix's Historic District Commission and oversees operation of The Vault Co-Working Space. She loves living "up north" with her husband and their toddler son. Hobbies include enjoying the outdoors and doing hands-on restoration work with historic masonry and wood windows.”
Link(s): Lindsey Dotson’s LinkedIn
Photo Source/Credit: Lindsey Dotson
Meranda Roberts
“Meranda is Northern Paiute and Mexican-American. She earned her PhD at the University of California, Riverside in Native American Studies. Her doctoral work focused on how several Native women basket weavers have used basketry to express their sovereignty.
Meranda is at the Field Museum as Post Doctoral Fellow for the Native American Hall renovation. She is working on curating stories that could be told in the new hall, as well as provide feedback on how the museum can work more seamlessly with Indigenous people. Meranda is dedicated to having Native people tell their own stories and to fix the inaccurate portrayals that people have about our communities.”
Link(s): Meranda Roberts Website
Photo Source/Credit: Meranda Roberts Website
Niya Bates
“Niya Bates is a PhD student at Princeton University in the History Department. Her current research interests include U.S. slavery and Reconstruction, Black radicalism, genealogy of families enslaved in Virginia, and rural cultural preservation. She earned both a B.A. in African and African American Studies and an M.A. in Architectural History and Historic Preservation from the University of Virginia. For the past four years, she has served as the director of African American history at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, where she led the Getting Word African American Oral History Project. A focus of Niya’s work has been changing the way historic preservationists approach Black rural history. She views historic preservation as one means of providing reparations for Black communities while also preserving valuable cultural heritage in endangered and disappearing Black rural communities.”
Link(s): Niya Bates Twitter
Photo Credit: Thomas Jefferson Foundation
Pascale Sablan
“Pascale Sablan, AIA, NOMA, LEED AP, With over 13 years of experience, she has been on the team for a variety of mixed-use, commercial, cultural & residential projects in the U.S. and globally. Currently a Senior Associate at S9ARCHITECTURE in New York. Pascale is the 315th living African-American female registered architect in the U.S. She is an activist architect who works to advance architecture for the betterment of society, bring visibility and voice to the issues concerning women and diverse designers. She founded the Beyond the Built Environment organization positioned to uniquely address the inequitable disparities in architecture. She was awarded the 2018 Pratt Alumni Achievement Award, BD+C 40 Under 40; featured on the cover of the 09/2017 issue. Pascale is a 2018 AIA National Young Architects Award Recipient. Pascale has given lectures at Colleges and Universities nationally; cultural institutions such as the United Nations and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.”
Link(s): Pascale Sablan’s Instagram
Beyond the Built Environment Website
Photo Source/Credit: Pascale Sablan
Pre-Vinylettes
“An offshoot of the Pre-Vinylite Society, the Pre-Vinylettes are a group of women, trans, and post-binary sign painters and lettering artists who celebrate diversity in this historically male dominated trade. The movement began with a collaboration between Meredith Kasabian and Shelby Rodeffer to curate The Pre-Vinylette Society: An International Showcase of Women Sign Painters, an exhibition of more than sixty international artists at the Chicago Art Department in September 2017, and has continued to grow in recent years.
The name of our movement—the Pre-Vinylettes—is a tongue-in-cheek re-appropriation of the grammatical “ette” suffix, which typically denotes a female or smaller version of a male or more substantial (read: better) thing. As language is at the forefront of sign making, this movement allows for more women's, trans, and post-binary voices to be heard than most historical and even recent surveys of the trade have acknowledged. By re-appropriating the “ette” formation, the women, trans, and post-binary artists of the Pre-Vinylite Society assert their rightful place in the long tradition of sign painting and the lettering arts.’
Link(s): Pre-Vinylettes Website
Photo Source/Credit: Pre-Vinylettes Website
Raina Regan
“Raina Regan (she/her) is the author and creator of Uplifting Preservation, a monthly newsletter of uplifting ideas on how to improve historic preservation professional practice inspired by business, psychology, and self-help research. Uplifting Preservation is inspired by Raina's decade of professional experience in the historic preservation field, working for both nonprofit and government organizations. Raina hopes Uplifting Preservation can start conversations about how we can grow our professional practice by improving our personal perspective. As an advocate for mental health, Raina encourages the preservation field to cultivate mentally healthy workplaces to allow our passion as practitioners to be sustained. Currently, Raina is the Director of the Easement Program at the National Trust for Historic Preservation where she directs a national program of acquisitions and stewardship of preservation and conservation easements.”
Link(s): Uplifting Preservation Sign-Up
Photo Source/Credit: Raina Regan
Ron Griswell
“Ron is dedicated to connecting underserved communities with the outdoors. As a graduate of North Carolina A&T, he founded HBCUs Outside to close the adventure gap for HBCU students and alumni, and to facilitate outdoor brands working for a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive industry.
Ron has guided canoe, sea kayaking and whitewater rafting experiences across the USA in addition to leading hiking and backpacking trips. He has also directed adaptive outdoor recreational sports groups for people with cognitive and physical disabilities.
An outdoor industry speaker and connector, Ron is a graduate of the Outdoor Industry Association's Skip Yowell Future Leadership Academy, a Children & Nature Network Natural Leader, past American Hiking Society Next Gen Trail Leader, and past campus ambassador for Outdoor Nation.”
Links: Ron Griswell’s Instagram
Photo Source/Credit: HBCU’s Outside Website
Schuyler Carter
“Schuyler S. Carter is a native of Muskogee, Oklahoma. She holds a Masters degree in Urban Planning from Alabama A&M University. There she completed her thesis which focused on planning process engagement of Historically Black Towns within Eastern Oklahoma. She is currently a first year student pursuing a Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Science at Texas A&M University. Her major research interests include historically black settlements, museum curation and heritage/place preservation specifically related to the historic communities settled by former slaves, black indigeneity and Afro-Native American culture, rural/unincorporated area planning, museum curation, archive management, grassroots archives, black placemaking, museum curation, African American museum curation and advocacy. She has been acknowledged on multiple occasions for her ongoing preservation projects in Oklahoma related to historically black communities.
Despite her young age, Schuyler has been doing family research since 2009. Prior to entering into her doctoral program, Schuyler has dedicated a significant amount of time researching her family history and was able to successfully nominate her great grandfather, Rev. L.W. Thomas’ home in Summit, Oklahoma to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In effort to expand the narrative of African Americans in America, Schuyler established the online Millennial Archivist brand. This platform is aimed at acknowledging the diversity in African American heritage as well as encouraging younger generations to take interest in researching their own histories to see how they impact their own lives.”
Link(s): The Millennial Archivist Instagram
The Millennial Archivist Facebook
Photo Source: Millennial Archivist Facebook
Tejpaul Singh Bainiwal
“Tejpaul Singh Bainiwal is a PhD Candidate at the University of California, Riverside researching early Sikh American immigrants. He serves on the Board of Directors for Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation and has been working on preserving Sikh American history since 2015. Tejpaul is a historian for the Stockton Gurdwara and is working on a national oral history project on Sikh Americans.”
Link(s): Asian & Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation Website
Photo Source: Tejpaul Singh Bainiwal
Ty Ginter
“Ty Ginter (they/them) is a Queer historian and historic preservationist who has conducted a long and storied love affair with most things old and historic. They are the founder of D.C. Dykaries, an oral history and memory mapping project that aims to document lesbian spaces in Washington D.C.. Ty has a keen interest in urban planning, community development, and the effects of gentrification on communities and the built environment. For more information on D.C. Dykaries, visit @dykaries on facebook or email dcdykaries@gmail.com. “
Link(s): Ty Ginter’s Twitter
Photo Source/Credit: Ty Ginter
Woodward Throwbacks
“Woodward Throwbacks is a passion project turned business. Developed by Detroit residents, Bo Shepherd and Kyle Dubay as a way to furnish their apartments and clean up their streets. Their project began with them riding their bikes around the city searching for reusable materials. It quickly grew from a one-car garage operation to a 24,000-sq.-ft. facility and a nationwide brand that now employs six Detroit locals.
Detroit had over 80,000 abandoned buildings when Bo and Kyle started. Buildings that were full of usable materials and relics of our city’s great manufacturing history. As Woodward Throwbacks developed they focused on affordable sustainability through authentic products created from the collected materials. Being able to thoughtfully mass-produce products in Detroit was the goal. W.T. employs locals, is community driven, and is a model for modern manufacturing.”
Link(s): Woodward Throwbacks Website
Photo Source/Credit: Woodward Throwbacks Website
*This list is not the definitive guide to next generation preservation leaders; it is a selection of people that you should follow, connect with, and learn from. Every individual/group was selected by me, Sarah Marsom; these are people who I think are badass. Everyone on this list was contacted prior to inclusion. This was not an easy list to make, because there are A LOT of people doing interesting work in preservation; making this list was important to me, it was important that we end 2020 with something empowering and inspiring. There will be another list at the end of 2021, so stay tuned!