Desiree Acosta Aranda

Desiree Aranda is a preservation planner with a decade of experience working at the intersection of heritage conservation, community planning, and public policy. As a historic preservation consultant, she evaluates properties to determine eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places. Desiree previously worked for the San Francisco Planning Department as a preservation planner and for San Francisco Heritage as preservation project manager and deputy director. Desiree’s experience ranges from historical documentation and evaluation to the development of community-based cultural heritage programs. She is a founder and the current co-chair of Latinos in Heritage Conservation, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and elevating historic American Latinx sites, stories, and communities. Desiree holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Women’s Studies from the University of Georgia and a Master of Science in Planning from the University of Arizona. She is an advisor to the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is based in Phoenix, Arizona.