Frampton Tolbert
Executive Director
framptont[at]hdc.org | 212-614-9107 x405
Frampton is Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council. He is a New York City-based preservationist and non-profit management leader, with extensive experience in historic preservation advocacy and community outreach, fundraising, communications, and a deep knowledge of New York’s architectural and cultural history. He previously served as HDC’s Deputy Director from 2005-2014.
Tolbert graduated with a BA in Historic Preservation from the University of Mary Washington, and has held positions at the Center for Urban Pedagogy, Brooklyn Museum, and the Phillips Collection.
He has received a New York State Council on the Arts grant and a James Marston Fitch Foundation Fellowship for his work examining vernacular modernism in the borough of Queens, and currently serves on several boards including Docomomo New York/Tri-State and the Victorian Society in America. He lives in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn and serves on the board of the Society for Clinton Hill.
Michelle Arbulu
Director of Communications and Programs
marbulu[at]hdc.org | 212-614-9107 x404
Michelle is the Historic Districts Council’s Director of Communications and Programs, and has been with the organization since 2009, when she began as a volunteer researching historic districts in the Bronx. Ms. Arbulu is responsible for both in-house and outreach communications, and disseminates hard news, action alerts, policy statements, white papers, and programming support.
Ms. Arbulu manages the Historic Districts Council’s online presence, and helps coordinate the organization’s extensive website, e-mail, and social media content. In addition, she oversees the creation and production of printed matter for the Council’s activism and special events.
Ms. Arbulu is also responsible for all of the Historic Districts Council’s free and fundraising events and programs.
Ms. Arbulu has a B.A. in Historical Studies from SUNY Empire State University, and lives in Stamford, CT.
Kaija Mendez-Bryan
Development and Administration Manager
kmendez-bryan[at]hdc.org | 212-614-9107 x403
Kaija is Historic Districts Council’s Development and Administration Manager. She is responsible for HDC’s development efforts, including individual and institutional giving, fundraising campaigns, cultivation events, and grant management. Prior to her role at HDC, Kaija worked as a Membership Coordinator consecutively at Dia Art Foundation and Black Gotham Experience developing both membership programs in the wake of a new normal for cultural institutions.
Kaija received a B.A. in History from University at Albany, SUNY in 2018 and most recently received her M.A. in Museum Studies from New York University in 2022. Born and raised in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and with her immense passion for her Trinidadian roots, her academic research primarily focused on the preservation of cultural history and spaces in New York City, the relation of museum architecture and race, and the practice of accessibility and inclusion within cultural institutions.
Kaija is an avid appreciator of visual and performance art and she currently lives in the neighborhood of Kew Gardens, Queens.
Mahnoor Fatima
Advocacy and Community Outreach Manager
mfatima [at] hdc.org | 212-614-9107 x406
Mahnoor Fatima is a Cultural Heritage and Community Engagement expert, both nationally and internationally. With a graduate degree in Historic Preservation from Pratt Institute in New York, she is interested in the intersection of community practices and the preservation of identity.
She has over six years of experience in research and community engagement strategies, she aims to foster connections and community-inclusive programming that builds solidarity and representation in New York and beyond.
She is also a volunteer board member of the South Asian Women’s Creative Collective (SAWCC), supporting creatives whose artistic practices focus on gender and cultural representation. She lives in Long Island.
Emma Ingrid Bartley
Preservation Associate
ebartley[at] hdc.org | 212-614-9107
Emma Ingrid Bartley is the Historic Districts Council’s Preservation Associate, where she manages the review of publicly proposed applications for alterations, demolitions, and new construction affecting historic properties; monitors trends at Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) hearings; and provides technical assistance to neighborhood preservation groups.
Prior to joining HDC, she spent eight years in the public arts and culture sector, most recently as a Grant Program Manager at the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). There, she managed the review of hundreds of grant applications for public arts projects nationwide, co-facilitated field-building initiatives integrating arts and community development, and collaborated with the National Park Service (NPS) on the Save America’s Treasures historic preservation grant program.
She holds an MS in Urban and Community Planning from Pratt Institute, where her thesis research focused on the ongoing master planning process for Hart Island, NYC’s historic public burial ground. She lives in North Brooklyn.