Executive Staff
Stephanie Meeks, President & Chief Executive Officer
David J. Brown, Executive Vice President & Chief Preservation Officer
Tabitha Almquist, Chief of Staff
David Cooper, Chief Development Officer
Paul W. Edmondson, Vice President & General Counsel (Chief Legal Officer)
Rosemarie Rae, Chief Financial & Administrative Officer
Estevan Rael-Gálvez, Vice President of Historic Sites
Terry Richey, Chief Marketing Officer
President & Chief Executive Officer
Stephanie Meeks
Stephanie Meeks was named president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in July 2010. She brings deep experience helping large, stewardship-driven organizations in the non-profit sector focus their vision and align their operations strategically, to achieve mission success.
Under her leadership, the National Trust works to save nationally significant places, and leverages expertise and resources to help partner groups protect important historic places in communities nationwide.
Prior to joining the National Trust, Stephanie served as President and CEO of Counterpart International, a non-profit international development organization working in twenty-five countries.
She also held senior executive positions, including Chief Operating Officer and Acting President and CEO, during her 17-year career with The Nature Conservancy, one of the world's largest and most influential conservation organizations. During her tenure, she led the three largest capital campaigns in conservation history, one of which raised $1.6 billion. She also helped to save numerous world-class places, from Oklahoma’s Tallgrass Prairie to Brazil’s Pantanal to the marine resources of Palau.
Stephanie currently serves as Secretary of the Board of the Potomac Conservancy. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of Colorado and an MBA from George Washington University.
David J. Brown, Executive Vice President & Chief Preservation Officer
David Brown has worked for more than three decades helping people preserve, enhance and enjoy the places that matter in their communities. David’s leadership has led to ground-breaking educational efforts promoting historic preservation as a stimulus for economic development. His innovative work in online communications has engaged millions of Americans in the work of revitalizing communities. A strong belief in partnerships has empowered groups across the country and enabled them to grow in effectiveness to save places that matter.
As Executive Vice President and Chief Preservation Officer of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, David is responsible for leading and managing the comprehensive array of field services and preservation programs at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He led the creation of www.PreservationNation.org, the online virtual town square where people share proven tools, make connections, and get inspired to save historic places. David’s conceptualization of the Partners in Preservation Initiative with American Express Foundation resulted in an interactive online voting program that in five years dispersed $4.5 million in funding to a range of highly diverse historic sites and organizations representing the broad American experience, built the marketing and fundraising capacity of 100 nonprofit organizations and engaged more than 50,000 new constituents in the work of the National Trust. American Express and the National Trust announced a 5-year, $10 million extension of the program in 2010.
Prior to joining the National Trust in 1996, David served as the founding Executive Director of the Preservation Alliance of Virginia, a consortium of 150 preservation and conservation organizations representing more than 60,000 Virginians. Under his direction, the Alliance successfully campaigned for state rehabilitation tax credits that since 1997 have spurred investment of over $300 million in more than 250 historic buildings. David also served as Director of Historic Staunton Foundation in Staunton, Virginia, where the organization's downtown revitalization work has been recognized with a National Trust Honor Award and a Great American Main Street Award.
David has edited and authored numerous publications including A Future for Virginia's Past, The report of the Governor's Commission to Study Historic Preservation on which he served as Chairman. A native of Tennessee, David was among the first graduates of the Historic Preservation Program at Middle Tennessee State University and has a Masters in Planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Tabitha Almquist, Chief of Staff
Tabitha Almquist joined the staff of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2000. She has held various positions in the organization, from Special Assistant to the President to Executive Director of Communications. As Chief of Staff, Tabitha provides strategic leadership and cross-organizational coordination to implement the President's agenda. She oversees Trustee relations and directs internal communications for the organization.
Before coming to the National Trust, Tabitha served in a Congressional press office where she sharpened her media relations skills, while learning the ins and outs of major legislative issues. She has worked on several statewide and federal political campaigns and has held various positions, including campaign manager. Almquist's time spent in a lobbying and public relations firm broadened her understanding of governmental affairs and public relations. While there, she assisted in the editing of two children's books, By the Light of the Captured Moon and A Thanksgiving Turkey, both written by Julian Scheer, who was an author and public relations specialist.
Tabitha grew up in a family of preservationists and restoration architects, and considers herself a preservationist from birth. She holds a degree in journalism from The George Washington University.
David Cooper, Chief Development Officer
David R. Cooper joined the National Trust in 2004. In his current position as Chief Development Officer he provides direct oversight and strategic direction for the $175 million People Saving Places: The Campaign for America's Heritage. David directs all development work for the organization in the areas of Individual Giving, Planned Giving and Gifts of Heritage, Corporate and Foundation Philanthropy, Special Events and Donor Stewardship, Data and Business Management, and Research. He oversees all aspects of donor relations and travels extensively throughout the country meeting with the organization's top donors. Prior to assuming his current position in 2006, David served for two years as the Senior Director of Individual Giving in the Development office of the National Trust. He entered the field of fundraising in 1986 and has held many leadership positions in the Development offices of Loyola College, the Kennedy Krieger Institute, Peace College, the University of Maryland University College and George Mason University.
Prior to entering the development field, David, as an ordained Southern Baptist minister, served in a church, and was a chaplain in a hospital. A native of North Carolina, David graduated from Campbell University and received his Masters of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Since 1997 he has been a Certified Fundraising Professional. David has extensive service in his local community, having volunteered his time on the Board of Directors for PACT: Helping Children With Special Needs, Inc., in Baltimore, Maryland, the Norbel School in Pikesville, Maryland, and the Central Fairfax Chamber of Commerce.
Paul W. Edmondson, Vice President & General Counsel (Chief Legal Officer)
As Vice President and General Counsel, Paul Edmondson oversees all legal services for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He directs an active program of legal advocacy and litigation in support of historic preservation, organized as the National Trust Legal Defense Fund. He also oversees the organization's in-house corporate legal services in support of the broad range of programs and activities carried out by the National Trust, its regional offices, and historic sites. In addition, he supervises the National Trust's preservation easement program, and the Trust's legal education and outreach activities. As Corporate Secretary of the National Trust, Paul is also responsible for overseeing its bylaws, minutes, and other corporate governance matters.
Over a 20-year career at the National Trust, Paul has worked on a wide variety of legal issues pertaining to the protection of historic resources in the United States—including constitutional issues, federal preservation law matters, issues relating to local landmarks laws, tax incentives for preservation, and preservation easements.
With an undergraduate degree in Anthropology from Cornell University, Paul practiced for several years as an archaeologist before entering law school at The American University. Prior to joining the National Trust, he was a Senior Attorney for the federal government.
Rosemarie Rae, Chief Financial & Administrative Officer
Estevan Rael-Gálvez, Vice President of Historic Sites
Dr. Estevan Rael-Gálvez joined the National Trust for Historic Preservation in May 2011 as the Vice President of Historic Sites. The Vice President of Historic Sites provides leadership to staff and volunteer stewards of the National Trust's historic sites. The sites include museums and cultural centers, each dynamic in their own way, and collectively represent broad and significant elements of the American experience.
Prior to joining the National Trust, Estevan served as the Executive Director of the National Hispanic Cultural Center, a 51-acre campus in Albuquerque, New Mexico which includes an art museum, a performing arts center, an archive/library and a vibrant educational department.
Estevan also served as the State Historian of New Mexico, New Mexico’s leading advocate for history, where he catalyzed the Office of the State Historian and his efforts included implementing initiatives, such as a student internship program, a residential scholar’s program and an award winning multi-media, interactive website. In this capacity, he also served as the chairman of the New Mexico Cultural Properties Review Committee, the advisory-policy making board that oversees the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division and establishes preservation policy for the State of New Mexico.
Estevan attended the University of California at Berkeley, earning a B.A. in English Literature and Ethnic Studies and an M.A. and Ph.D. in American Cultures at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, completing an award-winning dissertation on American Indian slavery and identity in the Southwest. Estevan is a native New Mexican, raised in both northern Taos county and the southern part of Colorado’s San Luis Valley.
Terry Richey, Chief Marketing Officer
Terry Richey brings a broad range of marketing experience to the National Trust from both the corporate and nonprofit worlds. In his business career, he provided marketing strategy to a number of the country's leading corporations with a focus on new product development and brand management. His work led to a business book, The Marketer's Visual Tool Kit, and a seminar series that took him around the world speaking on innovation and strategy. In his non-profit career, Terry led the marketing and fundraising efforts of both The Nature Conservancy and Special Olympics before joining the National Trust in the Fall of 2010.
In his free time, Terry is a house restoration addict having taken on a diverse range of properties from a turn of the century mansion to an adobe ranch house. Terry received a degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
