Marisa Angell Brown – Executive Director

Marisa is an architectural historian and educator who comes to PPS most recently from Rhode Island School of Design, where she served as Associate Director of the Center for Complexity. Prior to this, Marisa was Assistant Director at the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage at Brown University, where she taught courses on preservation and heritage practice and led the Center’s academic and community programs and partnerships.

Marisa has a PhD in the History of Art and Architecture from Yale University, an MA in History from the University of Chicago, and a BA from Princeton University. Her writing has appeared in the Journal of Architectural Education, Places Journal, Perspecta, Buildings and Landscapes, and the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians. She has taught courses in public writing and social change at the women’s prison in Rhode Island, in social practice art and design at RISD, and preservation theory and practice at Brown. She lives in Fox Point with her family.

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Allison Hernandez – Engagement Manager

Allison served previously as the Development & Communications Specialist at the Nonviolence Institute in South Providence, where she supported individual and corporate giving and events, including the organization’s annual fundraiser, Invest In Peace.  Born and raised in Providence, Allison graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a BA in Psychology and Gender & Women’s Studies and an MA in International Relations. During her time at the University of Rhode Island, Allison studied and worked on projects relating to immigration. Her work in immigration stems from her experience of having her father deported to Guatemala at a young age. Allison is excited to bring her skills and passion for working with people to Providence Preservation Society’s team.

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Katy Pickens – Planning & Preservation Writer

Katy is originally from the Chicagoland area. She recently graduated from Brown University with a degree in Urban Studies and Environmental Studies. While at Brown, she reported for the student-run newspaper, the Brown Daily Herald, where she covered the Metro beat for two years. This experience spurred her passion for Providence, housing and planning policy, and community-based storytelling. Katy has also reported on local news, politics and the arts and for a newsroom in northern Colorado and led the Brown Daily Herald as Managing Editor in 2023.

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Keating Zelenke – Mary A. Gowdey Special Projects Fellow

Keating is a journalist originally from Troy, New York. Her work has spanned a wide variety of topics, from wooden ship building to artificial intelligence. She graduated from Stony Brook University in 2023 with a B.A. in Journalism and a concentration in multimedia production. After graduating she lived in Brooklyn, working first in the digital content department at the Whitney Museum of American Art, then at the non-profit Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting as a fact-checker and copyeditor. Throughout her time in the city, Keating also wrote feature stories for The Indypendent and helped proofread the paper. She has been recognized by both regional and national organizations for her writing and design. As the daughter of a carpenter, she has long had an interest in architecture and the places we call home. She now lives in Providence.

Email Keating.