Stephanie Meeks was the chief executive officer of the National Trust for Historic Preservation from 2010-2018. Under her leadership, the National Trust has developed an ambitious strategic plan designed to refocus direct action on saving imperiled places, engage new audiences in preservation, and increase the organization’s impact by a factor of ten.
Under Stephanie’s tenure, the National Trust has worked to bring a more diverse and younger group of Americans into the preservation movement, and support their efforts in their communities and across the nation. It has also launched an effort to highlight the critical connection between older buildings and vibrant cities, and spearheaded research reflecting the benefits of historic preservation in today’s urban areas.
Stephanie has championed 21st-century business processes and systems to better meet today’s preservation challenges. The organization has strategically repositioned its portfolio of 27 historic sites to achieve new levels of stewardship, implemented a bold plan to upgrade its technology infrastructure, and moved its operations to the historic Watergate building, creating a dynamic, state-of-the-art workplace to move preservation forward.
Before joining the National Trust, Stephanie served in several senior executive positions with The Nature Conservancy, one of the world's largest and most influential conservation organizations. She also served as director of RARE, a U.S.-based conservation group that uses social marketing to address environmental challenges in communities around the world, and is the past chair 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.