What We Do

People, Places + Preservation:

Building a More Relevant and Equitable Preservation Movement

Hot Springs

Featured Keynote Speaker Bonnie McDonald, President and CEO of Landmarks Illinois

Bonnie McDonald

Bonnie McDonald aspires to shape preservation into a more relevant and just practice. As President and CEO of Landmarks Illinois (LI), Bonnie advances the vision, mission, and programs of Illinois’ only statewide preservation nonprofit organization. Her transformative thinking about preservation has led LI to focus its work on people and their important connection to historic places. She’s currently spearheading the organization’s evolution as it enters its 51^st year to enhance its relevance and to create a national model for justice, equity, inclusion and diversity in preservation practice. From 2018-2021, Bonnie served as board chair of the National Preservation Partners Network, the national nonprofit representing preservation organizations, and she is proud to have been awarded the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation Mid-Career Fellowship in 2020 to write a guidebook to relevancy in the preservation movement.