Mary Kate Harrington has extensive experience in both the historic preservation and affordable housing professions having previously served as RIHousing’s Public Information Manager, overseeing both internal and external communications and outreach efforts in support of the statewide agency’s mission to help Rhode Islanders find, rent, buy, build, and keep a good home. Following her departure from RIHousing in 2023, she spent 18 months at the URI Foundation & Alumni Engagement working on board and governance initiatives. 

Prior to her career at RIHousing, she served as the Director of Preservation Services at the Providence Preservation Society and as an Architectural Historian at PAL, Inc., a Rhode Island-based cultural resources management firm located in Pawtucket. Mary Kate has extensive experience in historical research, architectural surveys, National Register nominations, Historic American Buildings Surveys (HABS), and transportation planning projects. 



She has a degree in Historic Preservation Planning from Roger Williams University and lives with her family in a 1950s architect-designed Mid-Century Modern home in Smithfield. When not working Mary Kate can be found cheering her children on at various sports activities or in the garden.

(Pictured: a garden effort Mary Kate led for her children’s school.)

Kelsey Mullen is a public historian, storyhound, and architecture superfan with 15 years of experience in museums and historic sites throughout the Northeast. Her work interrogates the bigger systems that underpin local history -- and the places that show us something about who we've been and what we value. In the telling of more honest and expressive histories, we might actually change the world.

Prior to joining the RIHPHC as Senior Historian & Public Information Coordinator, Kelsey served as the Director of Education at the Providence Preservation Society, strengthening the organization's public portfolio and launching Building Works, a historic trades workforce and community skills-building program. Past roles also include Public Programs Manager at the Newport Restoration Foundation, where Kelsey oversaw NRF's global Keeping History Above Water initiative, and Director of Public Programming and Education at The Mount, Edith Wharton’s Home, among others. In each of these remarkable places, Kelsey has applied an interdisciplinary mindset to developing historical literacy, connection, critical thinking, and collective action.

Kelsey holds degrees in History and Education from Mount Holyoke College and a master’s degree in History Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program. She lives in Providence, where leads architecture boat tours and tries to socialize her dog in the city's various greenspaces.

(Pictured: Kelsey the human and Kelsey the triceratops.)