Karla McWilliams brings experience and passion for preservation to new role as Deputy Director of NM Historic Preservation Division

The New Mexico Historic Preservation Division is proud to announce that Karla McWilliams has been named the new Deputy Director of the division.

“Working with Karla for more than a decade, I’ve seen her work ethic, attention to detail, and passion for historic preservation first-hand,” said State Historic Preservation Officer Michelle Ensey. “I’m thrilled to continue working alongside her in her new capacity.”

McWilliams brings more than a decade of experience with the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division (NMHPD) to her new role. She joined NMHPD in 2013 serving as Historian and managing grant programs and the Certified Local Government (CLG) program.  As grants manager, she managed two million dollars in state and federal grants. With the CLG program she worked closely with communities throughout the state to support their local preservation programs.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to take on a new challenge and to work with an amazing team,” McWilliams said. “I am excited for continued collaboration and the chance to further contribute to the Historic Preservation Division.”

Before joining NMHPD, McWilliams earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Beloit College and a Master of Science in Historic Preservation from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She interned with the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust at Wright’s masterpiece, the Frederick C. Robie House in Chicago, then served as the Preservation Assistant at the Robie House restoration project.

She later held an internship with ICOMOS in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, where she witnessed ethnic Hungarians’ efforts to preserve their cultural patrimony. In her work with local governments across the country, she provided expertise in historic preservation planning in the cities of Geneva, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; and Kalamazoo, Michigan. As the first Preservation Planner in Geneva, she established a customer-friendly application process and in Cleveland, Ohio, completed federal compliance review and worked to preserve historic schools in Cleveland. In her spare time, Karla enjoys hiking in the mountains around Santa Fe with her husband and her two dogs and having coffee with friends.

McWilliams began working as Deputy Director on February 3. To learn more about NMHPD’s work across New Mexico, visit nmhistoricpreservation.org.

About the New Mexico Historic Preservation Division: NMHPD manages, oversees, and coordinates historic preservation activities across the state. The division educates the public about historic preservation and protects thousands of historic and archaeological sites in New Mexico. If you have ever visited an archaeological site, stopped on the side of the road to read a historic marker, or appreciated a well-maintained historic building in your community, you have likely engaged with the work of the NMHPD.