Meet The Team
Located in the heart of downtown Helena where we can be an active part of Montana’s historic capital city, our team is passionate about saving and protecting Montana’s historic places, traditional landscapes, and cultural heritage.
Jenny Buddenborg
Executive Director
Emory Padgett
Restoration & Research Specialist
Eli Smith
Restoration Director
Chere
Jiusto
Executive Director
Chere’s career in cultural resources and public history in Montana has spanned over two decades. She served as architectural historian and coordinator of the MT SHPO’s National Register program from 1990 to1998, and spent two years overseeing MT SHPO’s community preservation and state survey program from 2000 to 2002. She also operated a private consulting business from 1988 to 1990, and again from 1998 to 2000, completing broadly diverse projects including community surveys, historic property nominations, historic research and interpretive writing.
She has extensive background with cultural resource documentation on every level, including historic properties, determinations of eligibility, cultural landscapes, traditional cultural properties, Section 106 compliance, Section 110 projects, National Historic Landmarks, reconnaissance surveys, preservation planning, threatened site planning, mitigation proposals and heritage education. She is the author of Montana Main Street’s Guide to Historic Hamilton and Hand Raised: The Barns of Montana with co-author Christine Brown.
Favorite Montana Small Town: Birney
Favorite Montana Historical Figure: Jeanette Rankin
Favorite Montana Season: Spring
Mary
Webb
Restoration Director
Mary started working for Preserve Montana in November 2019, but was introduced to the organization earlier that summer when the Western Center for Historic Preservation out of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming partnered with PMT to teach a window restoration workshop.
She appreciates the workmanship and detail of old buildings (including a soft spot for craftsman homes), and believes that every last one can be restored and reused. A native of Ohio, Mary ventured West for different scenery and bigger adventures. She enjoys kayaking, wandering in the mountains, foraging, gardening, and woodworking.
Favorite Montana Small Town: Hamilton
Favorite Montana Historical Figure: Jeanette Rankin
Favorite Montana Season: Autumn
Clare Menahan
Outreach Director
Clare Menahan grew up in the Rocky Mountain West, where she studied journalism and French at the University of Montana. She later worked at Montana Public Radio in their Music and News departments. Clare earned a spot as an English Teaching Assistant through the TAPIF program, which took her to France for two years. She is a self-proclaimed lover of crosswords and warm beverages.
Clare joined the team in 2020 as the producer of Preserve Montana’s flagship podcast, 46° North, helping to illuminate the vast importance of place-based history. She quickly became an indispensable part of the team and has since worked on a wide variety or projects in every corner of the state.
Favorite Montana Small Town: Coffee Creek
Favorite Montana Historical Figure: Maurice Hilleman
Favorite Montana Season: Summer
Board of Directors
Mac Smith, Chair
Helena
Dennis Johnson-BigSam, Vice Chair
Missoula
Sarah Thomson, Secretary
Bozeman
Mike Sullivan, Treasurer
Helena/Cody, WY
Jeff Galli
Livingston
Janice Goodman
Choteau
Jim McDonald, FAIA
Missoula
John Milanovich
Helena
Mary Oliver
Ennis
Dylan Yonce
Helena
Interested in joining the Preserve Montana team?
Learn more about career and volunteer leadership opportunities.