Ken Kocher is a native Illinoisan who now calls Madison, Georgia his home. Mr. Kocher received a Bachelors Degree in History from the University of Illinois and completed the Masters program in Historic Preservation at the University of Georgia. Ken has served as the Design Coordinator for Main Street Louisiana and the Certified Local Government Coordinator for the State of Mississippi. He is currently the principal of Piedmont Preservation, a historic preservation consulting firm. Ken’s work with Piedmont focuses on local historic preservation commissions including surveys, district designations, design guidelines, and design review assistance. Mr. Kocher serves as staff for several local commissions. This month-to-month interaction between commissions, citizens, and staff continually informs the firm’s approach and philosophy for the creation of effective and usable design guidelines. He currently serves as a board member of the Georgia Alliance of Preservation Commissions and is a frequent speaker at conferences and training sessions.

Autumn Rierson Michael of Michael Preservation Group, Inc., is a lawyer, professor, and preservation consultant based in Davidson, North Carolina. She currently works with communities around the region as a historic preservation consultant, particularly with respect to legal issues related to preservation commissions, local ordinances, and design guidelines, as well as federal and state income tax credits for historic preservation. Ms. Michael has taught preservation planning and law at UNC-Greensboro for nine years and has previously served as an adjunct at UNC Chapel Hill and University of Pennsylvania. Previously, Ms. Michael worked in the non-profit arena as an attorney with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, where she developed particular expertise in the area of preservation easements, Constitutional issues such as the regulation of historic religious properties and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”), as well as NEPA and NHPA Section 106 reviews for federally involved projects. She has also served as Director of the Southwest Regional Office and General Counsel for the statewide Preservation North Carolina, and as Executive Director of the local nonprofit Historic Charlotte.