Vote for the 2023 Hero of the Year!

In 2022, we recognized four outstanding preservation advocates from across the country who are making positive impacts in their local communities and beyond. Please cast your vote for one of the following Preservation Action Heroes before February 21, 2023. 

Our Hero of the Year will be honored during National Historic Preservation Advocacy Week in Washington, DC, March 6-8!

Jim Igoe, Massachusetts:

James W. Igoe’s career spans nearly five decades and incorporates public service, state government, preservation, and non-profit management. On January 1, 2022, he retired as Executive Director of Preservation Massachusetts, a position he held for 20 years. During his tenure, he worked to reinvigorate the statewide preservation advocacy organization by increasing its impact and outreach while returning to a strong mission of advocacy and education. 


Dr. Andrea Roberts, Texas:

Dr. Andrea Roberts is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M University (TAMU). At TAMU, she is an Associate Director of the Center for Housing and Urban Development and a fellow with the Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center, Center for Heritage Conservation, and the Africana Studies Program. As a scholar-activist, she brings 12 years’ experience in community development, nonprofit administration, and advocacy to her work. Through her engaged research and public scholarship, she raises awareness of the entrenched racial biases impeding documentation, recognition, and preservation of historic Black settlements’ cultural assets. She is also a 6th generation Texan and freedom colony descendant. In 2014, she founded The Texas Freedom Colonies Project.


Meghan Elliott, Minnesota:

Meghan Elliott has dedicated her career to historic building redevelopment. “Use is the best form of preservation,” has become her motto after years of helping put unused and under-utilized buildings back into service. Meghan started her career in the field of earthquake engineering for historic buildings in high seismic zones after obtaining graduate degrees in both engineering and architecture as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. She quickly realized that life safety and engineering are only one small – but very important – part of the many challenges of building reuse. A move to Minnesota (and its lack of seismic activity) incentivized Meghan to create a consulting practice dedicated to making historic sites and buildings socially, physically, and financially relevant and viable. Meghan founded New History in 2011 and, nearly 300 projects later, has become a resource and leading advocate for building reuse across the state. 


Lori Ferriss, Massachusetts:

Lori Ferriss, Goody Clancy's Renewal Practice Leader and Director of Sustainability and Climate Action, leads architecture and preservation projects and research investigations for premier educational institutions that are renewing heritage campuses while advancing climate action goals. She brings an integrated approach with professional experience as an architect, structural engineer, and conservator. She is the 2023 Chair of the AIA Committee on the Environment, a Steering Committee representative of the Climate Heritage Network, and a Co-Chair of the Zero Net Carbon Collaboration for Existing and Historic Buildings. 

Click here to Cast Your Vote for Hero of the Year