Holly Maxson Grant Awarded to Historic Richmond

We are pleased to announce that Historic Richmond has been awarded a Holly Maxson Conservation Grant from the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation. Awarded every two years, the grants are designed to build awareness among students about conservation and related fields and to encourage students to consider the field of conservation as a career path. Historic Richmond will partner with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to launch Better Building Blocks, a workforce development program meant to connect 6th grade Richmond Public Schools students with a diverse directory of public speakers representing all aspects of preservation and the historic trades, including archaeologists, preservationists, architects, engineers, city planners, conservators, masons, carpenters, and beyond. The will be organized according to the National Career Clusters Framework and incorporated into the new Career Investigations course offered to all 6th grade RPS students. By providing diverse entry points and a diverse speaker pool, we hope to engage teachers and students where they are, making them aware of future possibilities and opportunities and allowing them to see themselves in this field.

In 2023, Historic Richmond sponsored three listening sessions to solicit input from homeowners, tradespeople, and community members on key issues. All groups highlighted a lack of awareness of building and preservation trades as valid career options and identified a community need for early education on trades, particularly for middle school-aged children. These community perspectives helped shape Historic Richmond’s workforce development priorities and laid the groundwork for Better Building Blocks, which endeavors to make the wide range of preservation and historic trades accessible to local students at a young age. Introducing these concepts early allows students to gain access to and understand the diverse career opportunities available and how the skills and interests they are currently developing might be applied. This interdisciplinary approach at the middle-school level has the benefit of reaching a wider and more diverse range of students than more traditional Career and Technical Education (CTE)/Workforce Development programs, expanding awareness and creating interest that students can pursue in high school and beyond. This awareness and access will allow students to focus on building skills and knowledge necessary to access these career opportunities, leading to upward economic mobility.

Through their support of this new workforce development program. the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation will advance Historic Richmond’s longstanding efforts to improve access to preservation trades for community members, property owners, and future trade professionals, furthering our mission of preservation and neighborhood revitalization in Richmond.

If you are interested in participating in this program as a speaker, please complete the speaker form linked here and send to Jennie Joyce, Preservationist & Community Outreach Manager at [email protected]. Speakers will be offered a $100 honorarium in recognition of their time.