Hello, I’m Yani Jones. I believe public history practice should be a positively transformative force in the community. This means preserving the built environment and the stories of the people who have interacted with it in a way that is accessible without compromising historical complexity. It also means engaging the diverse groups that make up our community and confronting difficult histories and their legacies in the present. Facing accelerating climate change and environmental instability, preservationists should also educate people about ideas like embodied energy and advocate for sustainability.
After receiving my bachelor’s degree in history and social studies teaching, graduating in the top 1% of my class, I taught 7th grade social studies in Loveland, Colorado. I then went back to school and earned my master’s degree in public history and historic preservation. Since then, I have worked in local government as a planner, as a preservationist, and as a program coordinator.