 The American Express Aspire Award honors three strong and powerful women that are changing the landscape of their communities. In Brooklyn, New York, Sue Milena then is the president and founder of Preserving East New York, a bilingual preservation and advocacy group. She's also the preservation manager of Weeksville Heritage Center. The mission of Preserving East New York is to protect culture and historic structures through landmarking East New York. They focus on educating underrepresented citizens about the importance of their voice within preservation. Sue Milena engages fellow New Yorkers through stands at local farmers markets, bilingual tours in her neighborhood, and heart-bombing actions that show community love for local landmarks. Through her tireless advocacy and preservation, Sue Milena is actively providing a space for people of color to join the conversation. She is changing the narrative and communities that have long been stigmatized by the media and outsiders. In Illinois, Allison Tunen-Talamo advocates tirelessly for the preservation and improvement of historic structures. A first-generation Mexican-American professional, Allison has used her personal history to advocate, energize, and improve communities impacted by development. Ringing her knowledge of engineering, Allison played a pivotal role in preserving the National Landmarked Board Trimotor Hanger in Lansing, Illinois. This led to increased foot traffic and awareness to the smaller and underserved communities near Chicago. It is now a point of pride for the Lansing community. Allison is also engaging and educating young people to join the preservationist community through her role as chair of the Landmarks Illinois Skyline Council, which is building the next generation of leaders working in the built environment. In Chattanooga, Tennessee, Melissa Mordemer works as a historic preservation planner. Leveraging over a million dollars in state and federal grant funds, she was able to restore and transform many important buildings, including the famous historic Ria County Courthouse. Alongside the Tennessee Valley Authority and the National Park Service, she works to interpret and preserve the Cherokee removal, which is part of the Trail of Tears. Melissa noticed a lack of awareness and education in preservation in Chattanooga. To fill this void, she organized Preservation Chattanooga, a new program of cornerstones which offers workshops and basic restoration techniques. Melissa formed a restoration and consulting LLC, founded a youth preservationist group and harnesses the power of social media to reach and educate folks in her community. She is empowering them to participate in local preservation efforts. Through their expertise in engineering, city planning and advocacy, these three women are emerging leaders who are changing the landscape of preservation and creating a new future. Thank you so much, the National Trust, in recognizing my work with preserving East New York. Getting this recognition is important to me because it's about changing the narrative of East New York. We focus on the love, the passion, the work of the community into moving this neighborhood forward. We use preservation as a tool not to just save buildings, but preservation for us is about saving communities because black and brown communities matter. And before we say that buildings matter, black lives matter. I would like to humbly, graciously thank the National Trust for giving opportunities such as these for individuals to projects and letting us shine and having a voice to speak up. It is important work. Those of us in preservation are the gatekeepers of our history. Ensuring the stories connected to our built environment are told. I would love to thank my family, especially my mom, for always being by my side throughout these adventures in my career and my education. And I would especially like to thank all my mentors who have molded me, challenged me, educated me and provided me the guidance necessary to become the person I am today. Thank you. I'm so honored to be one of the recipients of this year's American Express Aspire Award, especially that I get to share it with two other amazing women. I love that someone in Southeast Tennessee like myself can share an award with people doing great things in Chicago and New York. It just goes to show with preservation. Every place has its story. Every building has its story. So at the end of the day, as long as I can just have someone have a different outlook or notice a building on their commute that they didn't know before, I consider it a win. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for giving us this opportunity. Thank you so much.