The Southwest Museum Site Steering Committee was established in 2015 to work with the National Trust in assessing challenges and opportunities, identifying the most feasible and desirable alternatives for the revitalization of the historic Southwest Museum site. The Committee consists of 15 members who are well-known, respected, and experienced leaders in government, arts and culture, preservation, education, and philanthropy from across Los Angeles. It includes three representatives from the Autry Museum of the American West (the property owner) and two representatives nominated by the local Northeast Los Angeles neighborhoods.

The Steering Committee functions as a group of high-level, creative, and collaborative advisors working with the National Trust for Historic Preservation to assess challenges and opportunities, identify the most feasible and desirable alternatives for the revitalization of the historic Southwest Museum site, and will make specific recommendations to the Autry board.

The Steering Committee met for their inaugural meeting on December 15, 2015, and has continued to meet regularly to guide and inform the work of the National Trust, to review prospective partners and their concepts, and develop a Request for Interest. The smaller Executive Committee also meets periodically to evaluate specific issues and provide information to the larger Steering Committee.

The Southwest Museum Site Steering Committee:

* Denotes Steering Committee members who serve on the Executive Committee.

• Jeremiah Axelrod*, Adjunct Assistant Professor of History, Occidental College, and current leader of effort to establish an LA Institute of History and Culture at the Lummis Home
• Ken Bernstein, Manager, Office of Historic Resources, City of Los Angeles
• Arturo Chavez*, Senior Advisor, Councilmember Gil Cedillo, Council District 1, and long-time Mt. Washington resident
• Fernando Delgado, Field Deputy for Los Angeles Communities, Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis
• William Deverell*, Professor and Chair of History at USC Dornsife, College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences, and Director of USC Huntington Institute on California and the West
• Linda Dishman, Executive Director, Los Angeles Conservancy
• Maren Dougherty*. Executive Vice President, Autry Museum of the American West
• Efrain Escobedo, Vice President of Civic Engagement and Public Policy, California Community Foundation
• Gideon Krakov*, civil, environmental, and land use attorney, recently appointed by Governor Brown as Chair of the California Mining and Geology Board, and a Mt. Washington resident
• Marshall McKay,Trustee, Board of the Autry Museum of the American West, Tribal Chairman Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, and previous Chairman of the Board of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
• Christy McAvoy*, Founding Principal, Historic Resources Group and founding member of Hollywood Heritage
• Tracy Stanhoff, President, American Indian Chamber of Commerce of California Two community representatives were nominated and selected by local neighborhood groups and residents working with staff from the Council District office:
• Frank Parrello*, Eagle Rock resident and President of the Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society
• Carol Teutsch*, Mt. Washington resident and MD, Johnson & Johnson Health Care Institute, UCLA
• W. Richard West, Jr. (Southern Cheyenne), President and CEO, Autry Museum of the American West