Lise Sundrla
Lise Sundrla, an experienced preservationist and past director of the national Main Street Beaufort USA program, will lead Historic Beaufort Foundation as its new executive director effective June 7, the HBF Board announced.
“Lise brings exceptional knowledge about Beaufort from her work with HBF, Main Street Beaufort and the Beaufort Area Hospitality Association, and she is a strong advocate for our work,” HBF Chair Rob Montgomery said. “We look forward to her leadership.”
A native of Spartanburg, SC, Sundrla received a BA in Art History and a BA in Sociology from Converse College in Spartanburg. She received a Master of Arts in American History with an emphasis in Historic Preservation from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
She brings more than 40 years of experience in the fields of non-profit management; neighborhood, downtown and community redevelopment, with specific emphasis in preservation, community building, and hospitality. She’s also worked with local governments on urban corridor, neighborhood corridor, and main street redevelopment.
“I am honored to follow in the footsteps of such an incredible preservationist as Cynthia Jenkins,” Sundrla said. “She has set the bar high.
“We have such a strong and passionate team at HBF and the Verdier House,” Sundrla said. “I look forward to working with our Board of Trustees, our membership, staff and our many volunteers to carry HBF forward.”
Jenkins is retiring after a combined 14 years as HBF director. She and Sundrla worked together the past five years.
Montgomery said Sundrla’s work alongside Jenkins and her deep knowledge of Beaufort and its preservation efforts were key to her hiring.
“Lise has also been engaged with government entities for much of her career, in one way or another,” he said. “She brings that background of historic preservation with a knowledge of the Beaufort business and retail economy, plus experience working with governments. All those contribute to her broad perspective that will help her and us move HBF forward.”
Sundrla first came to Beaufort in 1988 to lead the Main Street Beaufort USA program and successful revitalization of Beaufort’s core downtown, garnering more than 15 state awards and recognition by the National Main Street Program as a “National Success Story.”
In 1997 she left Beaufort to direct award-winning programs in community, downtown and economic development in Winchester, VA, Savannah, GA and Naples, FL, before returning to Beaufort in 2017.
Sundrla has served on state resource teams and facilitated board and staff development retreats in SC, GA, Florida, and Virginia; served as conference speaker and/or trainer at state and national conferences of the South Carolina Downtown Association, SC Main Street Program, Georgia Municipal Association, the Georgia Downtown Association, Government Finance Officers Association, Virginia Downtown Development Association, the Florida Redevelopment Association, and Florida Main Street Program.
She has served as a member of the Board and as president of the Georgia Downtown Association; member of the Board of the South Carolina Downtown Development Association, the Georgia Urban Main Street Board, Historic Savannah Foundation, First Night Winchester, and the Leadership Team and Board for Blue Zones™ Naples. She is a graduate of Leadership Beaufort.
Sundrla and her husband John returned to Beaufort in 2017, where she soon began work as a consultant to lead formation of the Beaufort Area Hospitality Association, coming on as Executive Director of the newly formed association in May 2018. She was appointed to the City of Beaufort’s Affordable Housing Task Force in 2019 where she served until its conclusion in 2021. She has recently been reappointed to the City’s Cultural District Advisory Board.
In January 2020, Sundrla joined the Historic Beaufort Foundation as the Museum and Preservation Programs Manager. In November 2021, she became Assistant Director managing operations, administration and program activities for the Foundation and the John Mark Verdier House Museum.
With her extensive experience in preservation, neighborhood, community and economic development, Sundrla is the ideal person to lead HBF forward, the Board of Trustees said.
