Supporting Skilled Preservation Trades at the Local Level: What Commissions and City Staff Need to Know

Molly Baker is a historic building preservationist serving as the manager of the HOPE Crew program at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She previously worked as facility manager and later as site director at a National Historic Landmark site in Louisiana. Molly was drawn to the HOPE Crew program through her commitment to passing preservation trades skills on to a younger and more diverse generation. She holds an A.S. in Historic Building Preservation from Belmont College and a B.A. in History from Northwestern State University. In 2023–2024, Molly was honored to be named the Harrison Goodall Preservation Fellow. During her fellowship, she explored ways to increase accessibility to preservation trades training, raise awareness of trades, and address the growing need for traditional trades practitioners. Her research resulted in the Preservation Trades Program Creation Guide, an interactive website and downloadable roadmap designed to help smaller regions launch their own preservation trades training opportunities.

Emilie Evans is a passionate and award-winning preservation professional who’s enjoyed an exciting career working in Detroit and other post-industrial legacy cities, which inspired her to co-found a home repair organization named Brick + Beam Detroit in 2015. She’s currently immersed in federal policy with Preservation Action – the only national organization dedicated exclusively to lobbying for preservation-friendly policies at the federal level. She holds masters’ degrees in both Historic Preservation and Urban Planning from Columbia University, where she also taught. Emilie loves tackling home repair projects, manages a house full of animals and plants, and is raising two little boys with her husband in the DC area.

Natalie directs The Campaign for Historic Trades, a national workforce development program. She leads the team’s operations and strategic goals to fulfill its mission to expand and strengthen careers in the historic trades. She served as a Board Member and Secretary for the Preservation Trades Network and is currently a board member of the National Preservation Institute.

Natalie earned her AAS from Savannah Technical College’s Historic Preservation and Restoration Program in 2013. During and after this program, she’s worked in hands-on preservation with various non-profits, construction companies, and federal agencies. From 2014 through 2019, Natalie worked on seasonal, cross-country projects with HistoriCorps. In 2016, she founded Henshaw Preservation LLC in Savannah, Georgia. It started by offering general preservation services and now specializes in window restoration.

Natalie has also worked extensively in educational fields. She has taught extracurricular classes, English in China, TEFL as an online tutor, United States and world history with Savannah Technical College (STC), and historic preservation with STC and Lamar Community College (LCC). She managed LCC’s Historic Building Trades Program. Natalie enjoys traveling and hiking, and typically follows lawful good alignment.

Kathy Rodriguez, Deputy Historic Preservation Officer for the City of San Antonio, leads the Living Heritage Trades Academy (LHTA) and the Vacant Building Program. With 19 years of public administration experience, Kathy is skilled in forging strategic partnerships, aligning diverse objectives, and advancing heritage conservation, neighborhood revitalization and innovative workforce initiatives. She established the LHTA to preserve traditional crafts, conserve building stock, and leverage heritage for economic growth. Known for her visionary planning and ability to unite stakeholders, Kathy holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from UT San Antonio and a Master’s in Public Administration from Sul Ross State University.

Nicholas Redding is the President & CEO of Preservation Maryland and has led the organization since 2014. Since his arrival, he has overseen a complex merger and the subsequent creation of Smart Growth Maryland, a dynamic program of the organization. Additionally, he has worked in partnership with the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center to establish the Campaign for Historic Trades, a program dedicated to developing the next generation of traditional tradespeople. Outside of the organization, he has served as the chair of the National Preservation Partners Network, the national network of statewide and local preservation organizations. Previously he also served as the chair of the Maryland Partners for Open Space, the statewide open space advocacy coalition, and as the vice-chair of the Frederick County Historic Preservation Commission. He is a graduate of West Virginia’s Shepherd University and lives outside of Frederick, Maryland.

Bob Yapp has been involved in the restoration or rehabilitation of over 160 historic properties. In 1996 Bob produced and hosted the national, PBS series, About Your House with Bob Yapp. The 52 show series was co-underwritten by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Bob is one of the founding members of the national Window Preservation Standards Collaborative. He co-wrote and co-edited the new national Window Preservation Standards. Bob is President of Preservation Resources, Inc. based in Hannibal, Missouri where he founded a school for teaching hands-on preservation skills called the Belvedere School for Hands-On Preservation.