Staff Directory

A. Robert Jaeger
President
Bob co-founded Partners for Sacred Places in 1989. Previously, Bob worked with the Philadelphia Historic Preservation Corporation as Senior Vice President for the Historic Religious Properties Program. He is the co-author of Sacred Places at Risk (1998) and Strategies for Stewardship and Active Use of Older and Historic Religious Properties (1996), author of Sacred Places in Transition (1994), and editor (from 1985 to 1989) of Inspired, a bi-monthly magazine with news and technical articles on religious property preservation. Bob holds a master’s degree in preservation planning from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Gianfranco Grande
Executive Vice President
Gianfranco Grande brings over twenty years of experience in management of nonprofit organizations. Since opening its doors in 2008, the Chicago Office of Partners for Sacred Places has worked with more than 1,000 community-serving congregations representing the religious, racial, ethnic, and socio-economic diversity of the City. It has built strategic relationships with local faith leaders, lay leaders, community leaders, universities, seminaries, public officials, foundations, and philanthropists. These collaborations have been instrumental in the successful local rollouts of Partners’ trainings, programs, research, and consulting services, helping to bring sacred places and art together in a way that preserves the history and enhances the beauty of the city’s architectural treasures. In 2012, he was awarded the Richard Nickel Award from the Institute of Architects (AIA) Illinois, recognizing his dedication to the principles of livable communities through grassroots initiatives.

Kevin Block
Director of Special Initiatives
Trained as a cultural and architectural historian, Kevin received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley. He has taught across the humanities and design fields at Berkeley, Princeton, the University of Pittsburgh, and Thomas Jefferson University. He also has worked with commercial developers, advocacy organizations, neighborhood associations, and individual property owners as a historic preservation consultant. Kevin serves, or has served, on the boards of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians, the Center for the Preservation of Modernism (Thomas Jefferson University), the Young Friends of the Preservation Alliance (the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia), and his local historical architectural review board.

Dana Dabek
Director of Transition Services
Dana Dabek serves as Director of Transition Services, helping congregations reimagine their spaces and places within their communities. Working from the Philadelphia office, she brings over fifteen years of experience in grassroots nonprofits, public history, and community organizing to this role. Dana holds a BA in English and Gender Studies from the College of New Jersey, a Masters’ in Liberal Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, and is completing her doctorate in Communications from Temple University. She additionally holds certificates in fundraising and nonprofit leadership from Villanova University and Bryn Mawr College, respectively.

Bridget Fidler
Senior Director of Consulting
Bridget Fidler has been an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ since 1999, serving two congregations in Connecticut during that time. A focus during her ministry was building collaborative relationships between communities, both religious and secular. She has served in many key leadership positions in the wider church, most recently as the Chair of the Connecticut Conference Board of Directors. Playing a key role in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts forming a single new conference has been a wide impact example of that collaborative effort. Committed to creating connections between people to find creative ways to work together, Bridget brings a deep understanding of church cultures; she seeks to help churches see themselves and their role in the community from a fresh perspective.

Kathryn Ford
Communications Coordinator
Kathryn Ford joined Partners following her graduation from Temple University where she received a BA in Public Relations and minored in Digital Media Engagement. She was drawn to Partners through her interests in historic preservation and how sacred places provide crucial support to their local communities. As Communications Coordinator, Kathryn plays a key role in aiding Partners’ communication efforts, including managing the organization’s social media. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, going on walks around her neighborhood, and reading.

Rachel Hildebrandt
Director, National Fund for Sacred Places
Rachel began her career at Partners for Sacred Places as an intern, carrying out surveys as part of the Economic Halo Effect of Sacred Places^SM study in Philadelphia, Chicago, and Fort Worth. This work gave her a deep appreciation for what congregations do to support their communities and those most at risk within them. Rachel directs the National Fund for Sacred Places and has played a key role in Partners’ economic impact research, which focuses on congregations across the United States that are stewarding older and historic properties. She co-authored a chapter in the Routledge Handbook of Religion and Cities as well as Partners’ guide to transitioning property, Transitioning Older and Historic Sacred Places: Community-Minded Approaches for Congregations and Judicatories. Rachel holds a Master of Science in historic preservation and previously wrote on a freelance basis for Hidden City Philadelphia.

Betsy Ivey
Director, Philadelphia Fund for Black Sacred Places
The Reverend Betsy Ivey brings to Partners six years’ experience of church development with the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania where she served as Canon for Growth and Support for the Rt. Rev. Daniel G. P. Gutiérrez. Betsy “has never been in a church she did not love, nor did not want to change.” In her previous work as priest-in-charge of a historical Black congregation she led the church to change its ministry to an outward focus through programs that supported the needs of the neighborhood. She broadened this scope of church development through her work with the 135 churches of the diocese. Betsy feels the redevelopment of a church through outward-focused ministry and the use of its space to address the needs of its community are necessary to improve the viability of a church in this time. Betsy holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Pennsylvania, and masters degrees of Divinity (Lancaster Theological Seminary), Sacred Theology cum laude (General Seminary), and Architecture in Historic Preservation, also, from the University of Pennsylvania. For the Diocese of Pennsylvania Betsy served on the Commission for Ministry, the Philadelphia Cathedral Chapter, and was the diocesan liaison to the Union of Black Episcopalians. Betsy also served on the Board of Trustees of the Lancaster Theological Seminary and as a member of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church Task Force for Church Planting and Church Redevelopment. A native of Harrisburg, PA, Betsy has lived most of her life in Philadelphia. Prior to becoming an Episcopal priest, she was an executive for the Commonwealth of PA in the Office of Inspector General. Betsy resides in South Philadelphia.

Sarah Jones
Director of Community Engagement
Sarah holds a Master’s of Divinity from McCormick Theological Seminary, as well as a Masters of Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago. Sarah brings experience designing and implementing service programs for returning citizens through Safer Foundation in Chicago, IL. Sarah has held internships with the Southwest Organizing Project, where she organized faith communities on Chicago’s Southwest side, and the International Organization for Adolescents, where she completed a needs-assessment and resulting policy recommendations for orphaned and vulnerable children in Ethiopia.

Simon Kaufman
Director of Development
Simon brings fifteen years of experience working in the development field for a variety of Philadelphia area non-profits. Having worked in a West Philadelphia parochial school for many years, Simon has a special appreciation for the role sacred places play as community centers for people of all ages and backgrounds, and the challenges congregations face in maintaining aging infrastructure. Simon holds a BA in Economics from Swarthmore College.

Caroline Lauber
Consulting Associate
Caroline Lauber is a recent graduate of Loyola University Chicago’s Public History M.A. program. While at Loyola, she contributed to a digital project titled, “Gathering Places: Religion and Community in Chicago”. Caroline worked with the United Church of Rogers Park to tell their congregation’s history within the larger religious landscape of the Rogers Park neighborhood. Most recently, Caroline worked with The History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff where she conducted research and wrote profiles for their current exhibit about the black history of Lake Forest. She is committed to education, advocacy, and social justice. She is excited to work with congregations to create meaningful partnerships within and outside their communities. Caroline graduated from Wheaton College with a B.A. in History.

Elizabeth Lott
Consulting Associate
Elizabeth Lott is a freelance writer, podcaster, consultant, and public speaker. She worked in congregational church ministry for 25 years, most recently serving as a senior pastor in New Orleans from 2013-2023. A Gulf Coast native from Mobile, AL, Elizabeth also served churches in Birmingham, AL, and Richmond, VA. She joins the consulting staff at Partners after working with the National Fund for Sacred Places and several of Partners’ departments as a client. Elizabeth has a passion for helping communities of faith live out their unique callings through transformational stewardship of their brick-and-mortar resources.

Emily Sajdak
Directors of Rural Initiatives
Emily came to Partners in 2017 to coordinate and facilitate capital campaign consulting services. Since that time she has delivered feasibility and readiness studies, furthered grant-funded initiatives as a team member for the Nordic Churches Project, and fostered connections with the preservation community in Chicago through participation in Landmarks Illinois’ Skyline Council. She previously worked with the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota, the State Historical Society of North Dakota, and Calvin Theological Seminary. Emily holds a Master’s degree in Public History: Historic Preservation from Southeast Missouri State University, as well as a Master of Theological Studies and a Master of Theology in Old Testament from Calvin Theological Seminary. She has completed the classroom requirements for a Level One (ACC) coaching credential from the International Coaching Federation.