National Preservation Partners Network
2026 Fall Convening

U.S. Representative Mike Carey of Ohio’s 15th Congressional District has emerged as a leading voice in Congress for historic preservation and the responsible use of preservation easements. A member of the House Ways and Means Committee and Vice Chairman of the Congressional Historic Preservation Caucus, Carey has worked to protect the federal incentives that help communities preserve historic buildings and revitalize neighborhoods.

Carey has been particularly active in advancing clarity and certainty for historic preservation easements, recognizing them as an important tool for permanently protecting the character of historic properties. In 2023, he led a bipartisan effort urging the IRS to provide clearer guidance and workable model agreements for preservation easements, helping ensure that property owners and preservationists can use the program without facing unnecessary regulatory uncertainty.

In 2026, Carey introduced the Historic Preservation and Land Conservation Certainty Act, legislation designed to address the backlog of conservation-easement litigation and strengthen confidence in legitimate preservation and conservation transactions. His efforts reflect a broader commitment to ensuring that historic preservation remains a practical component of community revitalization, adaptive reuse, and economic development.

Lauren was appointed President of The L’Enfant Trust in 2017, after serving as Executive Director and Director of Preservation. In 2012, she initiated the Trust’s Historic Properties Redevelopment Program. Lauren has a B.A. in Art History and Historic Preservation & Community Planning from the College of Charleston and a M.S. in Historic Preservation from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Lauren is a past Chair of the Preservation Action Foundation, a former board member of the ACE DC Mentor Program, and a past citizen member of the Planning, Zoning, and Economic Development Committee of Washington, DC’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6C. She currently serves as President of the Latrobe Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians. In 2026, Lauren was appointed by the Mayor and approved by the Council of the District of Columbia to serve as an Architectural Historian on the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB).

Rebecca Miller is the Executive Director of the DC Preservation League. She holds a B.A. in History and a Master’s in Business Administration and has been with DCPL since 2003. In addition to supervising the day-to-day operations of DCPL, Rebecca represents the organization as a consulting party on Section 106 issues such as the consolidation of the Department of Homeland Security at the National Historic Landmark St. Elizabeths Hospital West Campus, Union Station, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She has also successfully advocated for funding for the restoration of the DC World War I Memorial on the National Mall, and led the organization in pursuing the protection of dozens of individual landmarks and historic districts throughout Washington. Rebecca frequently provides testimony on behalf of DCPL on historic preservation issues before the DC Council, the DC Historic Preservation Review Board, the Commission on Fine Arts, and the National Capital Planning Commission. She also serves as a juror for the annual District of Columbia Awards for Excellence in Historic Preservation.

Barbara O’Reilly, CFRE, has spent more than 30 years helping nonprofits raise more money with clarity, confidence, and purpose. Her fundraising career includes leadership roles at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, where she worked with donors who care deeply about protecting the places that tell America’s story, as well as Harvard, Oxford University, and the American Red Cross. She now leads Windmill Hill Consulting, where she and her team partner with organizations nationwide to grow major gifts, strengthen fundraising systems, and deepen donor engagement. A past president of AFP’s Washington DC Metro Chapter, Barbara serves on the board of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Giving Institute and Giving USA Foundation, and chairs the Research Committee of the Giving USA Foundation.

Nakita Reed is an award-winning preservation architect whose work sits at the intersection of sustainability, development, and cultural heritage. She is Senior Director of Preservation Operations for the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In this role, she helps strengthen preservation practice systems, supports strategic partnerships, and advances preservation education.

Nakita holds a Master of Architecture and a Master of Science in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Virginia. She is a registered architect, a LEED® Accredited Professional, and a certified Passive House Consultant.

She serves on the board of the Baltimore Architecture Foundation, the Zero Net Carbon Collaboration for Existing and Heritage Buildings (ZNCC), The L’Enfant Trust, and Built Buildings Lab. She also hosts Tangible Remnants, a podcast that demystifies building reuse for owners and developers.

Denise Robinson is the Chief Operating Officer of the Washington Housing Conservancy (WHC), where she oversees the organization’s operations and financial management and works closely with the CEO to advance WHC’s strategic priorities. Ms. Robinson is a proven executive leader with more than 15 years of experience at the intersection of organizational management, real estate finance and economic development. Throughout her career, she has focused on building stronger organizations and improving financial performance. Prior to joining WHC, Ms. Robinson founded the Panacea Group, a consulting firm specializing in real estate and economic development and organizational strategy. Earlier, she served as Executive Director of the Revenue Authority of Prince George’s County, where she led a $55 million agency with more than 100 employees and was responsible for the organization’s overall operations and financial performance. During her tenure, the Authority increased operating revenue by more than $2 million and generated more than $600,000 in cost savings. Ms. Robinson’s real estate and economic development experience includes the DC Housing Finance Agency and leadership roles with the Prince George’s County Executive’s Office, the District of Columbia’s Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, and Preservation of Affordable Housing. She has led multi-million-dollar real estate development and financing initiatives, including community revitalization efforts and public-private partnerships. Ms. Robinson holds an MBA with a concentration in real estate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and a bachelor’s degree in business management from Hampton University. Her professional affiliations include the Urban Land Institute and Women of Color in Community Development. She is also a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.

Donovan D. Rypkema is principal of PlaceEconomics, a Washington, D.C.-based real estate and economic development-consulting firm. The work of the firm is at the nexus of historic preservation and economics. He has undertaken assignments for public and non-profit sector clients in 49 US states. He also teaches a course on the economics of historic preservation at the University of Pennsylvania where he received the 2008 G. Holmes Perkins Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Rypkema was educated at Columbia University receiving a Master of Science degree in Historic Preservation. He is author of several publications including Community Initiated Development, The Economics of Rehabilitation, and the Feasibility Assessment Manual for Reusing Historic Buildings. Rypkema’s book, The Economics of Historic Preservation: A Community Leader’s Guide is widely used by preservationists nationwide and has been translated in to Russian, Georgian, and Korean.

Rypkema has worked with such groups as the Urban Land Institute, the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, the American Planning Association, Smart Growth America, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the International Downtown Association. Federal Government clients have included the U.S. Army, the Department of State, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Interior, and the Advisory Council for Historic Preservation for whom he prepared a report entitled Measuring Economic Impacts of Historic Preservation.

In the fall of 2012 Rypkema received the Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Crowninshield Award is the nation’s highest preservation honor and awarded for lifetime contribution to historic preservation in the United States.

Firm co-founder and chief executive Marion Forsyth Werkheiser has a proven track record of convening diverse stakeholders to identify shared values, solve tough problems, and scale solutions.

Marion’s creative approach to resolving threats to cultural resources has led to first-of-their-kind agreements between developers and Tribal Nations, African-American descendant communities, and local governments that have resulted in tens of millions of dollars of investment in preservation priorities. She thrives on pursuing justice for communities who care about historic places and improving corporate governance to reduce risks to those communities’ rights.

She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Indiana University, where she was a Wells Scholar and earned her B.A. in political science and classical civilization with an emphasis in art and archaeology.

The Register of Professional Archaeologists honored Marion with the John F. Seiberling Award for her significant and sustained efforts in the conservation of archaeological resources, and she is a recipient of the 2023 Albert Simons Medal of Excellence in Historic Preservation.