Event Details

Andrew Goldberg
Principal, Agora

Andrew Goldberg has more than three decades’ experience in public policy and advocacy. He started in politics running local and state campaigns in New York. In Washington, Andrew served as a top legislative aide to key members of Congress. At the American Institute of Architects, he rose from manager of federal regulatory relations to become senior director of federal relations and ultimately managing director of government relations and advocacy. In 2018 Andrew formed Agora, a government relations consulting firm that specializes in helping associations in the infrastructure and environment sectors grow their influence in Washington. He is also the co-founder, with former U.S. Representative Russ Carnahan, of BuildingAction, a broad-based coalition advocating for sustainable building policies.

Jonathan Elkin
Director, Governmental Affairs, Association of Public and Land Grant Universities

Jonathan Elkin serves as APLU’s Director of Governmental Affairs. In this role, he works closely with governmental affairs staff at APLU’s member institutions, advocating for federal student aid and other education programs. Prior to joining APLU, Jonathan worked for eight years as an education staffer in the U.S. House and Senate – including working with APLU to introduce and enact bipartisan legislation restoring Year-Round Pell Grants. After Capitol Hill, Jonathan helped expand bipartisan congressional support and increase funding for the Federal TRIO Programs for college access and success.

Allyson Brooks
State Historic Preservation Officer / Director, State of Washington
Co-chair, SAA Government Affairs Committee

Allyson has spent over two decades advising Governors, legislators and the Washington State congressional delegation on shaping policies that preserve our cultural heritage. Her role is complemented by robust expertise in legislative relations and environmental policy. In her work she has achieved many milestones in the protection and promotion of Washington State’s historical, cultural and environmental landscapes, including the creation of a state human remains repatriation process, raising the profile of sacred site protection, establishing the Pacific Northwest's first national heritage area, and advancing GIS technology to safeguard historic and archaeological sites.

Julia Prince-Buitenhuys
Section 106 Coordinator, Caltrans
Co-chair, SAA Government Affairs Committee

Julia is the Co-Chair of the Society of American Archaeology Government Affairs Committee (GAC. She currently works as the Section 106 Coordinator for the California Department of Transportation. She been working as a professional archaeologist for over 15 years at state and federal agencies, and CRM firms. In addition, Julia trains and practices as a career coach for anthropologists looking for new career trajectories. She has expertise in NHPA Section 106 compliance, NEPA, CEQA, GIS technology, data management, human skeletal identification, and public education. Julia collaborates to create technical, training, and strategic solutions for common challenges that arise during the Section 106 process in her professional work. Julia is working as the co-Chair of GAC to generate creative solutions that address the challenges arising from policies, laws, regulations, and decisions that affect cultural resource management and access to higher education.

David Lindsay Manager
Government Affairs, SAA

David worked on Capitol Hill for two key Members of Congress, focusing on appropriations, tax, trade, agricultural and transportation issues. Following a two year period lobbying for agricultural trade, he joined the SAA in 2002 as its government affairs manager. Since that time, he has led the Society’s advocacy program to a number of significant policy achievements at home and overseas, including the passage of the Safeguarding Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act, and the development of the World Bank’s revised environmental and cultural safeguard policies. Moreover, he and the SAA’s Government Affairs Committee has ensured that the Society’s voice is heard by policymakers for the protection of the archaeological record and jobs in the United States and around the world.

With the ongoing federal fiscal crisis, along with the change in the federal administration and in Congress, the statutes, regulations and programs that govern and implement cultural resources preservation will face unprecedented challenges. These debates will have dramatic impacts on cultural resource management, as well as the training of future archaeologists in our colleges and universities. The SAA’s Government Affairs Committee is hosting this webinar so that its members can be fully informed about the unique policy situation that confronts archaeology. Joining our panel will be government relations experts from several of our sister groups, to educate attendees on the most effective means of ensuring that our shared cultural past—and the knowledge it contains—is preserved for future generations.

1. Fully apprise SAA members on the policy situation confronting archaeology, cultural resources preservation, and higher education
2. The potential impact of these changes on heritage preservation work and the training of future archaeologists
3. How SAA members can best work to influence their elected representatives