Closing Luncheon

Sponsored by Protégete y CHISPA

Location: History Colorado Room

Facilitator:

Alison Garcia Kellar, Latinos in Heritage Conservation Education Committee

Speakers:

Dawn DiPrince, History Colorado

Desiree Aranda, Latinos in Heritage Conservation

Dr. Sarah Zenaida Gould, Latinos in Heritage Conservation

Alison Garcia Kellar grew up in South Florida and studied design at UC Davis and historic preservation at the University of Pennsylvania. For nearly a decade, she has worked to preserve and document a wide range of historic properties in California including McDonnell Hall, the home parish of labor leader Cesar Chavez. She is a member of Latinos in Heritage Conservation's Education Committee, which is embarking on the Abuelas Project, and is excited to bring attention to the meaningful places revered by Latinx communities. She currently works as a senior architectural historian at Environmental Science Associates in San Diego, California.

Dawn DiPrince became History Colorado’s Executive Director on September 1, 2021, and was named Colorado’s State Historic Preservation Officer by Governor Jared Polis the following month. DiPrince has served in several leadership roles since joining History Colorado in 2012. She is a fourth-generation Coloradan and a champion for work that helps share the history of all communities and people in our state. Some of the largest initiatives she has led at History Colorado include Borderlands of Southern Colorado, which is a series of programs, experiences, and exhibits that center Chicano, Indigenous, and Mestizo perspectives; Bridging Borders, a teen program that empowers participants to reconnect to the stories, knowledge, and practices of their collective ancestry to form a strong sense of self and confidence; and Museum of Memory, a public history initiative that works together with Colorado residents to reanimate, center, and amplify histories that have long existed only in the margins. DiPrince served as co-chair of the Governor’s Ludlow Centennial Commemoration Commission and lead developer of the award-winning Children of Ludlow exhibit at El Pueblo History Museum.

Desiree Aranda is an urban planner and heritage specialist based in Phoenix, Arizona where her family has lived for over five generations.. She is a founder and the current co-chair of Latinos in Heritage Conservation. With nearly a decade in the historic preservation and planning fields, Desiree specializes in identifying, documenting, evaluating, and designating historic properties, as well as developing community-based cultural heritage programs. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Women’s Studies from the University of Georgia and a Master of Science in Planning from the University of Arizona.

Sarah Zenaida Gould, Ph.D. is Interim Executive Director of the Mexican American Civil Rights Institute, a national project to collect and disseminate Mexican American civil rights history. A longtime museum worker and public historian, she has curated over a dozen exhibits on history, art, and culture, she was formerly founding director of the Museo del Westside and lead curatorial researcher at the Institute of Texan Cultures. Gould is co-founder and currently serves as co-chair of Latinos in Heritage Conservation. Additionally, she serves on the boards of El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail Association and the Friends of the Texas Historical Commission, on the council of the American Association of State and Local History, and is an active member of the Westside Preservation Alliance, a coalition dedicated to promoting and preserving the working-class architecture of San Antonio's Westside. She received a BA in American Studies from Smith College and an MA and PhD in American Culture from the University of Michigan. She is a former fellow at the National Museum of American History, the Winterthur Museum, and the American Antiquarian Society, and is an alumna of the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture Leadership Institute.