Maren Orchard is the Senior Manager of Programs at the DC History Center where she is responsible for producing a slate of relevant, history-based public programs for public audiences. In her role at the DC History Center, she serves as the project manager for the DC History Conference working with the braintrust and committee to make this annual tradition possible. She holds an MA in Public History from American University and a BA in History and Women and Gender Studies from Ball State University.

Mariana Barros-Titus is a seasoned community organizer working at the intersection of public history and advocacy. As co-founder of the Black Broad Branch Project, she has studied and documented Black placemaking, including how racially restrictive covenants have shaped the demographic and economic distributions in the District. In addition, her work traces the history of community formation, transformation, and processes of integration within DC's Latinx communities. Mariana is currently manager of community engagement at the DC History Center.

Mark Benbow is an Associate Professor of American History at Marymount University. He earned his PhD from Ohio University. From 1987 to 2002, he worked for the federal government and from 2003 to 2006, Benbow was the Historian at the Woodrow Wilson House Museum in Washington, DC. Since 2010, he has served as the Director of the Arlington Historical Museum in Arlington, Virginia. His specialty is early-twentieth century American history, particularly the Woodrow Wilson administration.

Lorenzo Bright is an emerging museum professional based in Washington, DC with a focus on discovering extraordinary ordinary stories from his community. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Florida State University and his Master of Arts in museum studies from Johns Hopkins University. He currently works as the Administrative Assistant to the Director of Special Operations at DC Superior Court and is passionate about connecting people and cultivating relationships.

Shae Corey is the Programs Manager for the DC Preservation League. She oversees the Education Committee and works closely with community partners to plan the organization’s programming, including lectures, walking tours, and webinars. She is responsible for DCPL’s social media presence on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Shae is also the primary manager of DCPL's Legacy Business Program, which launched in April 2023.

Jenna Febrizio, PhD, is an empathy-focused historian who is passionate about telling stories that provide a more human glimpse into the past. She is currently the Director of Education & Operations at the Heurich House Museum, where she has focused on uncovering the lives of people who worked as household staff in the Victorian-era mansion. She holds a PhD in History from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she researched social connections between immigrants and United States arts professionals around World War II and considered the ways that immigrant stories have been memorialized.

Karen L. Harris is the Senior Visitor Services Manager of the DC History Center. She is a natural relationship-driven professional who inspires the Visitor Services team to provide outstanding experiences for members, guests, and partners who come to the historic Carnegie Library at Mount Vernon Square. We are “the Ambassadors of First Impressions.” She began managing events in the Carnegie Library building in 2008 and continues to find new challenges that inspire her to learn and support the mission of the organization which “deepens understanding of our city’s past to connect, empower, and inspire.”

Maria Ibañez is a communications and marketing professional with a 20-year career in the public, private and nonprofit sector. She is a native Washingtonian of Afro-Cuban descent and has shared her family story often including at the 45th Annual DC History Conference. Maria holds an MA in Public Communications from American University, BA from the University of the District of Columbia, and serves on the boards of various nonprofit organizations.

Julianna Jackson brings a decade of experience as a preservation professional to the DC History Conference. She holds an MA in Anthropology from the College of William and Mary, where her graduate research explored the role of architecture in landscapes of slavery in the Washington region. Originally from Baltimore, Julianna is now a proud DC resident with a love for history and the built environment. She has had the privilege of being on the conference planning committee for the past four years.

Lina Mann first joined the White House Historical Association in 2017 as American University’s Public History Fellow and came onboard as a historian in March 2020. She is interested in many aspects of White House history, including her latest research on the enslaved individuals that built, lived, and worked in the White House. As a lifelong Marylander, she also researches local and regional history. Previously, she has worked with the National Park Service and the Maryland Historical Society. Lina received her BA in History with minors in Anthropology, Environmental Studies, and Museum Studies from St. Mary’s College of Maryland in 2016 and earned her MA in Public History from American University in 2019.

Kate Morgan returns to the committee after serving as the 2022 coordinator. In her eight years in DC, Kate contracted with local history organizations including the DC History Center and the DC Preservation League and interned at institutions including the Library of Congress, Smithsonian Institution, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She graduated American Univeristy's BA/MA program in Public History. Kate now serves as Assistant Grants Management Specialist in the Division of Literary Arts and Arts Education at the National Endowment for the Arts. She sits on the National Council on Public History’s New Professional and Student Committee.

Andrea Pedolsky has worked in publishing in various editorial capacities, including as acquisitions editor, executive editor, director of publishing, and literary agent. She is currently providing editorial services to global health organizations. Andrea earned her BA in American Studies at Queens College, City University of New York, and her MS in Library Science at Columbia University. Andrea is on the board of directors of the Cleveland Park Historical Society.

Ashley Robertson Preston, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of History at Howard University. Her research interests focus on the activism of Black women during the early 20th century, particularly the work of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune. Dr. Preston's past positions include serving as director of the Mary McLeod Bethune Foundation-National Historic Landmark at Bethune-Cookman University while also an archives technician for the National Archives for Black Women’s History at the Mary McLeod Bethune Council House-National Historic Site. She holds degrees from Howard University (PhD), Temple University (MA) and Bowie State University (BS).

Jessica A. Rucker (she/her) is a doctoral student in the Department of American Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park where she is studying Black radicalisms. Jessica was a 2023 summer Tenant Organizing Fellow with DC Jobs with Justice and a 2022-2023 Prentiss Charney Fellow. Prior to Jessica’s graduate work, she was a high school social studies teacher in Washington, DC. She holds a BA in Sociology, with a concentration in Social Justice Analysis and a minor in African-American Studies, from Georgetown University. She still resides in her home city, the U.S. colony of Washington, DC, with her loving partner.

Kasey Sease, PhD, is Curator of the Albert H. Small Washingtoniana Collection at The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum. Beyond developing exhibitions and activating the collection, she programs the Albert H. Small Center for National Capital Area Studies. Her virtual and in-person programs invite audiences to engage with the founding and evolution of Washington, DC. Kasey also serves as Managing Editor of Washington History, the DC History Center’s publication and the only scholarly magazine devoted to DC’s local history. She holds degrees from the College of William and Mary (PhD, MA, history) and the University of Virginia (BA, history and government).

Sajel Swartz joins the DC History Conference Committee in her role as Manager of Individual and Foundation Giving at the DC History Center focusing on the creation and execution of fundraising campaigns, membership, and grant writing and reporting. She brings experience in communications, event planning, project management, and public history. She holds an MA in public history from American University and a BA from Centre College, where she majored in history. Raised in Kentucky, Sajel has lived in the DC Metro area for five years and is proud to call the city home.

Vanessa Williams is a student and practitioner of all things critical pedagogy, with a special appreciation for social studies. Williams holds a BA in Anthropology with a minor in Education from Davidson College, as well as her MS Ed in Education, Culture, and Society from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. Williams taught secondary ELA and social studies for six years before joining the Teaching for Change team, where she now enjoys teaching and learning with a community of educators in the DMV.