Board/Staff

Renée Kahn, Founder Ms. Kahn, a resident of Stamford for more than forty-five years, is the founder of the HNPP. She taught Art History and American Art at the University of Connecticut for more than twenty years and is a nationally noted preservation consultant and author. Foremost among her works is Preserving Porches, a book published to critical acclaim in 1990. Although retired as Director of the organization, she continues to produce its newsletter, the Historic Neighborhood News.

Marshall Millsap, President, has been a Stamford resident for over 30 years.  He is currently Chairman of the Old Long Ridge Historic District Commission of the City of Stamford, a Director of the Stamford Historical Society, and a member of the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation.  He and his wife, Jackie Kaiko, reside in the Palmer-Thompson House (1862) in the Long Ridge National Historic Register District.  He works for JPMorgan in New York.

Mark Diamond, Vice President is a trial and appellate litigator in courts throughout the country including the U.S. Supreme Court, Connecticut Supreme Court, and New York Court of Appeals.  He is a neutral arbitrator and mediator for the American Arbitration Association.  He has served on many boards and commissions including the Southwestern Regional Planning Agency, Stamford Economic Development Commission, and Stamford Environmental Protection Board, and ran as the Democratic candidate for state senator for Greenwich, Stamford, and New Canaan in 2008.  He is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a defense counsel for the International Criminal Court.

Wes Haynes, Secretary  – Wes Haynes is a Stamford native with thirty-five years experience in historic preservation. After starting his career with Renee Kahn as a volunteer surveying Stamford’s historic resources, he served as a historic preservation specialist for the New York Landmarks Conservancy, Preservation League of New York State, New Jersey Historic Trust and several architectural firms in Manhattan. He hold an MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture and Planning and is currently a consultant to the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation where he is directing Making Places, a statewide initiative to stimulate preservation reinvestment in historic industrial properties. As a member of the board of the Highland Green Foundation Mr. Haynes serves as president of the Fish Church Conservancy, a project focused on the conservation of Stamford’s First Presbyterian Church, and is on the board of the Sagamore Institute in Raquette Lake New York.

Jill Smyth, Executive Director – Jill Smyth has been a resident of Stamford for 30 years. She is currently a member of the Stamford Historic Advisory Commission, the Merritt Parkway Advisory Committee, Director of the Merritt Parkway Conservancy and a volunteer for numerous preservation organizations. She recently co-authored the book, The Merritt Parkway: The Road That Shaped A Region.

Colin Skidmore, a Stamford native, graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design and studied at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. A historic preservation research and design consultant, he has assisted the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts in Winston-Salem, NC, the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, Inc., in Norwalk, Connecticut, and Stamford’s Community Development Department, among other organizations, as well as developers, architects, interior designers and homeowners. He has been affiliated with the HNPP for over twenty-five years.

Sheila Barney Ms. Barney has lived in Stamford for over forty-five years, and was employed at Pitney Bowes for more than two decades. She is a long-time resident of Stamford’s South End and has been head of the South End Neighborhood Revitalization Zone for over six years.

Hilda Cook, a resident of Stamford for more than thirty years, is a former President of Stamford’s Community Arts Council, and a former Community Organizer for the city’s Waterside Coalition. She is currently Secretary/Treasurer of the Connecticut Geriatrics Society.

Diane O’Connor has lived in Stamford for over twenty years, and is a former Director of Stamford’s East Side Partnership. She is an active volunteer with a number of community organizations including the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, Inc., in Norwalk.

William Bretschger

Pam Coleman Pam Coleman has been a resident of Stamford since 1992.  She currently resides in a 1907 home that started life as an Arts & Crafts “bungalow”.  Her career has focused on education and music.  Currently, Pam is Chairman of the Stamford Historical Society Board of Directors.

Glenn Gazin is an attorney in private practice.  He is admitted to the State Bars of New York and Connecticut.

Judy Norinsky is one of our newest board members. She moved to Stamford a little over a year ago and is in the process of restoring her 73 year old home in North Stamford. She has written about land use, preservation and urban affairs for community newspapers, worked in community affairs in New York City, and has Masters degrees in Political Science from CUNY and in Historic Preservation from Pratt Institute.