Bio: Bonnie McDonald joined Landmarks Illinois in 2012, after seven years as executive director of the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota, based in St. Paul. As President of Landmarks Illinois, Bonnie’s role is to support and advance the vision, mission, and programs of Illinois' only statewide preservation nonprofit organization. She provides leadership to achieve strategic goals working in collaboration with its 35-member board, four staff, committees, interns, members, and partners. Additionally, Bonnie manages fundraising and expenditures for the organization's $1.1 million budget. Bonnie has honed her passion for community-building through historic preservation over a 12-year period working and studying in the field. She became the Executive Director of the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota in November, 2005, and over a period of seven years helped to grow the organization and its capacity four-fold adding several effective programs including Partners in the Field and Minnesota Main Street. Bonnie is most proud of the Alliance’s success in passing the state historic tax credit in 2010 and, that same year, re-launching the statewide Main Street coordinating program. The Preservation Alliance of Minnesota was honored in 2012 with the National Trust for Historic Preservation National Award for Organizational Excellence in recognition of these achievements. Bonnie has held positions with the Anoka County (MN) Historical Society, the Preservation League of New York State, the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office, and Preservation Action in Washington D.C. Her leadership positions have included serving as chair of the public policy task force for statewide and local partners at the National Trust for Historic Preservation; participant in the James P. Shannon Leadership Institute, Amherst H. Wilder Foundation (St. Paul, MN); and chair of the public policy subcommittee for the Building Jobs Coalition (St. Paul, MN). She was named a “Minnesotan on the Move” in 2011 by Finance & Commerce, a real estate publication in Minneapolis, MN.
Education: Bonnie has a Bachelor of Arts in Art History (Summa Cum Laude) from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Arts in Historic Preservation Planning from Cornell University.
Past Assignments: "Preservation Opportunities: The Road Ahead," to the Annual Meeting of the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust, 2013 "Economic Development through Historic Preservation," Illinois Chapter of the American Planning Association Conference, 2012 Federal Public Policy Panel, American Alliance of Museums Conference, 2012 National Preservation Conference, 2011 National Preservation Conference, 2010
Bio: Principal Mesa Design Group
Education: Master of City Planning: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bachelor of Architecture: Texas A&M University
Key Publications: Articles publlished in: Texas Architect, Rice University Center Journal, University of Texas Architectural Journal, Planning Magazine, Architecture Magazine, Builder Magazine, Southwest Journal of Economics
Other Publications: Other publicatios include: Dallas Morning News, New York Times, National Endowment for the Arts Publication, National Trust for Historic Preservation Publication
Past Assignments: Brasilia, The Catholic University of Brazil, "The Next Urban Morphology"; Baltimore, National APA "Urban Design in Dallas"; National AIA, "Management Approach to Design"; Rhode Island, Rhode Island School of Design, "The Histroic reuse of the San Antonio River"; Santa Fe, Western Mountain Regional AIA, "Old as the Hills"; Dallas, Dallas Insitiute of Humanities, "The Hidden Diversity of Dallas"; Washington D.C., D.C. National APA, "Guidelines that Give Form"; Dallas, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, "Options for Tomorrow's City"; SMU, Texas A&M, Dallas Baptist College, "Urban Design in Dallas"; Dallas Chapter APA, "Histroic Preservation Today"; Dallas, Dallas Museum of Fine Art, "Dallas from the Ground Up"