Stories by Bonnie McDonald

Bonnie McDonald aspires to shape preservation into a more relevant and just practice. As President and CEO of Landmarks Illinois, Bonnie advances the vision, mission and programs of the statewide preservation nonprofit organization. From 2018-2021, Bonnie served as board chair of the National Preservation Partners Network, the national nonprofit representing preservation organizations, and was awarded the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation Mid-Career Fellowship in 2020 to write a guidebook to relevancy in the preservation movement. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot appointed Bonnie co-chair of the Chicago Monuments Project in 2020 to help lead a truth and racial reckoning process in the city around problematic artworks. Bonnie received a bachelor’s degree in art history from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in historic preservation planning from Cornell University.