About us and what we do
Since 1981, OHA has engaged residents, policymakers, elected officials and others in exploring strategies to preserve Oakland’s irreplaceable cultural, natural, and architectural heritage. Activities sponsored by the organization focus largely on educational, outreach, and advocacy programs.
Our Partners and Sponsors
Meet our Board of Directors and Staff
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Charles Bucher
BOARD MEMBER
Charles has lived in Oakland since 2005, but he is an East Bay native who grew up in Berkeley and his family goes back four generations in the Bay Area. He is an architect with 20 years’ experience, currently works at AllWest Environmental, and has experience in numerous preservation projects in Oakland.
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Feleciai Favroth
TREASURER
Feleciai is a Bay Area native, entrepreneur, and lover of historic preservation. She was a real estate broker and has also created a line of ethically sourced skincare products made at her studio in Old Oakland: Skincare by Feleciai. Most recently, Feleciai has been crucial in helping to enable OHA in taking more forms of payment at events via a new Square card reader.
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Alison Finlay
BOARD MEMBER
Alison has lived in Oakland since 1971 and has been a member of OHA since the mid-1980s and a board member since 2004. Retired from the Postal Service, as a letter carrier she walked many of the city’s streets, developing a first-hand appreciation for the warmth and diversity of Oakland’s neighborhoods. She has coordinated OHA walking tours, and worked on several House tours.
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Mary Harper
VICE PRESIDENT
Mary is a retired paralegal. She has been an off and on OHA member since 1992. She has worked on house tours and walking tours.
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Tom Haw
BOARD MEMBER
Tom is founder and CEO of Vanguard Packaging and co-founder of Vanguard Legato. He has been an OHA member for more than 17 years, served as chair of the First Unitarian Church of Oakland restoration committee, and helped with the City’s development of S-14 guidelines following the Oakland Firestorm in 1991.
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Kathryn Hughes
BOARD MEMBER
Kathryn has lived in Oakland for most of her life, and three generations of her family now make this city their home. Kitty worked for the City of Oakland for 20 years, where she served as the East Bay’s first Bicycle Program manager before retiring in 2006. As a writer and researcher, she has published several articles about Oakland history.
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Daniel Levy
PRESIDENT
Daniel is a regional rail and Oakland history enthusiast and brings tech smarts to bear on OHA’s web outreach. He has also led walking tours for OHA on the Key System’s C Line.
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Amelia Marshall
BOARD MEMBER
Amelia is a local history author of East Bay Hills: A Brief History (2019), and Oakland’s Equestrian Heritage (2008). She is also a engineer, licensed real estate broker, and equestrian. Amelia writes for the OHA newsletter and enjoys identifying issues and advocating for preservation of civic treasures.
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Naomi Schiff
SECRETARY
Naomi has been an OHA member, volunteer and board member since the early 1980s and is currently chair of the Preservation Action Committee, where she is a strong and effective advocate for historic preservation in Oakland. She is a retired graphic designer.
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Linda Taylor
BOARD MEMBER
I have lived in Oakland for almost 30 years. In 2001 I purchased a 1908 Craftsman cottage near Piedmont Avenue and soon found out during a visit to the Building Department that it was a (semi) historic house. That revelation changed my life. I ran upstairs to the Historic Research Survey Department where Betty Marvin dropped what she was doing and spent two hours going through files and educating me about the history of my house. The next trip was to the History Room of the Library, then I joined OHA.
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Matt Rich-Gotesman
STAFF
