The Young Advisors is a board of developing professionals whose role is to expand and amplify the Alliance’s mission. Active at every level of the Alliance, they work as conservators, construction managers, preservation planners, estimators, attorneys, small business owners, educators, and architects.
Join Our Board of Young Advisors
Participate in one of their upcoming events to get to know them better. Be sure to follow them on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Email youngadvisors@
Young Advisors Members
Devon King
President
He/Him
Devon King is an urban and environmental historian, advocate for LGBTQ+ history and the preservation of modernist architecture, and committed public historian. In May 2021, he received his master’s in history from the University of Massachusetts Amherst as well as a Historic Preservation Certificate from Boston Architectural College. Currently, he worked as an Associate Architectural Historian for the Public Archaeology Lab. He previously worked as Cultural Landscape Planning Associate with the National Park Service’s Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation. Working with the OCLP staff, Devon is leading projects to complete a Cultural Landscape Report Vol. 3, Record of Treatment, a Preservation Maintenance Plan, and the submission of a Historic American Landscape Survey for the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, Fairsted, in Brookline. Outside of the archives and away from his research, he is an avid hiker, voracious reader, and uncle to two rambunctious kiddos. He is a lifelong resident of Massachusetts, the youngest of five, proudly gay, and an advocate for inclusion, democracy, and social justice.
Pandora Hess
Vice President
She/Her
Erin Doherty
Secretary
She/Her
Erin Doherty is a Preservation Planner at Epsilon Associates, Inc., an environmental consulting firm located in Maynard, MA. Erin works in the historic preservation group, which focuses on securing project approvals and clearances from local, state, and federal agencies including State Historic Preservation Offices, the National Park Service, and local historic district commissions. Prior to joining Epsilon, Erin spent much of her career in the public sector. Formerly, Erin worked as a Preservation Planner at the Massachusetts Historical Commission where she was responsible for the review and approval of state and federal historic tax credit applications. Previously she worked at the Boston Landmarks Commission where she oversaw the administration of three local historic districts. Erin received a B.A. in Russian and French from Wellesley College and an M.A. in Preservation Studies from Boston University. Erin is a Fulbright Fellow and spent a year in St. Petersburg, Russia researching historic sites following her graduation from Wellesley College.
Julian Phillips
Libations Chair
He/Him
Julian K. Phillips, a Memphis native, found an early interest in art and architecture when he was found painting and drawing buildings and architectural elements at an early age. Paintings and illustrations became more than a hobby for Julian when his paintings were shown in the Memphis International Airport, Brooks Museum (Memphis), Frist Art Museum (Nashville), and the Memphis Heritage House. His collegiate education began at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree in 2017, Julian worked as an architectural intern for CMArchitects in Nashville, TN working with architects on education facilities, and single-family dwellings. He spent his free time in Nashville volunteering for the Nashville Civic Design Center where he worked to lobby for the 2017 Nashville Transit Plan. Shortly after, he started his master’s degree in architecture at Massachusetts College of Art and Design where he completed his graduate thesis fall of 2019. After two years in Boston, he has taken part in designing/creating art installations at the Peabody Essex Museum (Copa Pavilion), Faneuil Hall (Auction Block Memorial (unbuilt)), and The Institute of Contemporary Art (Bazzaro Beach).
He currently serves as BosNOMA’s secretary. Julian is currently an Architectural Designer at Bruner/Cott Architects in Boston and teaches architecture + design courses for Mass College of Art’s Youth Programs, Summer Intensives, and Portfolio Development. In every instance, from art to architecture, Julian strives to positively impact his surroundings and use the human connection as the strongest and most genuine element of design.
Gabrielle Chapman
She/Her
Kate Ford, LEED AP
She/Her
During Kate Ford’s first year of architecture school, her class took a field trip to Boston to explore all of the amazing architecture this city has to offer. The most impactful building she saw that day was the MIT Chapel in Cambridge. She loved the way Eero Saarinen designed a seemingly modest building from the exterior, but as you explore the interior, you find celebrated moments of natural light from the undulating brick walls reflecting light from the moat below and a skylight pouring in light from above. This building still remains one of her favorite buildings in this city and beyond! Her professional career thus far has primarily been focused on a large renovation of a 100-year-old building in Downtown Boston. This project preserved the historical podium while replicating the upper façade in modern materials to bring it back to life. She has had the pleasure and good fortune to work on such a challenging, rewarding and transformative project over the past few years, and looks forward to expanding upon the lessons learned as a part of the BPA Young Advisors.
Cathryn Haight
She/Her
Cathryn Haight is a Boston-based writer and editor. She is an associate editor for Dotdash Meredith. She is also a freelance writer for a number of media outlets including Boston.com and WBUR. Prior, she was an editor at the Improper Bostonian magazine. Cathryn joined the Young Advisors Board to advocate for the historic sites and structures around Boston that hold countless stories of the city’s past, and to help share those stories with the public. She can often be found reading, exploring museums, catching a performance by the Boston Ballet or frequenting antique shops. She holds a degree in Creative Writing and Russian Language from Trinity College as well as a certificate in Publishing from Columbia University. She lives in Back Bay.
Charly Kring
She/Her
Laura Lacombe
She/Her
Laura is an architectural conservator with a background in archaeology. She received her Master of Science in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania, where she focused on conservation science, and has developed conservation plans for Holly Tower at Hovenweep National Monument in Utah, and Nyamata and Ntarama Genocide Memorials in Rwanda. She spent 5 years working for Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, where she worked on conservation and 3D modeling projects at the Maya site of Copan in Honduras. She currently works as an Architectural Conservator at Building Conservation Associates, Inc, where she advises on the conservation of historic building materials throughout New England.
Kelsey McLean
She/Her
Jackie Mignone
She/Her
Nate Ross
He/him