Community Outreach Strategies

Tyrell Anderson is an Operational Excellence Engineer at U.S. Steel with 15 years of experience. He is also the President and co-founder of Decay Devils Inc., dedicated to preserving abandoned architectural landmarks through placemaking and restoration. Tyrell has led efforts to secure funding for the Gary Union Station renovation and initiated art programs for children in NW Indiana. As an artist, his work spans photography, music, and filmmaking, and his Unapologetic Series celebrates cultural heritage. His contributions have earned accolades, including the 2023 USS Volunteer of the Year and the 2024 Next City Vanguard award. Tyrell is also a board member of Indiana Landmarks and the Calumet Heritage Partnership, championing preservation efforts in Northwest Indiana.

Adrienne Burke is Principal with Community Planning Collaborative, an urban planning and historic preservation consulting practice whose purpose is to elevate the voices and culture of those traditionally excluded from urban planning, land use and zoning. She previously worked in planning in Northeast Florida and Miami-Dade County. Adrienne’s expertise is in cultural and natural resource policy, as well as land development code and comprehensive plan management. Adrienne has a degree in history from the University of Virginia, and graduated from the University of Florida with a master’s degree in historic preservation/urban planning and a law degree. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and the Florida Bar, Co-Chair of the National Council on Public History’s Advocacy Committee, and a member of the University of Florida’s Urban and Regional Planning Department’s Advisory Council. She lives in Jacksonville, FL.

Sarah Marsom works to improve the preservation movement’s accessibility by empowering the next generation of community advocates and increasing representation of lesser known histories as a heritage resource consultant. She's the organizer behind #DismantlePreservation, sewist of Tiny Activist Project dolls, and an advocate for labor equity in the cultural resources field. Her work has received awards from both the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Council on Public History, in addition to being featured in Curbed, Traditional Building Magazine, and the National Parks Service’s LGBTQ America Theme Study, amongst other publications and podcasts.

Caroline Swope serves as the historic preservation specialist for Decatur, Alabama. She has been working with the city’s Historic Preservation Commission on broad-based community outreach for sites and histories that have been traditionally overlooked, and on updating historic design review standards for the Architectural Review Board. Decatur won a NAPC Best Practices Award in 2022 for a project centered on community education and engagement. Caroline is currently coordinating with several municipal agencies on streamlining responses for severe storm damage in the historic overlay neighborhoods. Prior to working for the City of Decatur, she served as a founding board member for the Historic Tacoma non-profit and as an independent consultant working with municipal governments, park systems, and school districts, while teaching public history, art history, and architectural history at the University of Washington and the Seattle Community College system for almost a decade. Caroline has worked extensively with the Society of Architectural Historians on producing Archipedia articles for buildings in both Washington State and Alabama and continues architectural research in her spare time. She holds a masters in Historic Preservation from Ball State University, and a doctorate in Architectural History from the University of Washington.

Melissa Wyllie is CEO and President of the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, the statewide nonprofit dedicated to the preservation and inclusive sharing of Florida’s history and heritage. Under her leadership the Florida Trust connects with a broader community to protect places of architectural, historical and archeological importance throughout the state. She is a frequent presenter and spokesperson for historic preservation initiatives and campaigns and is a NAPC CAMP and CAMP Resilience trainer. Melissa holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication from the University of Alabama and a Master of Nonprofit Management degree from the University of Central Florida.