Kathleen Foley

Kathleen E. Foley is the founder and principal of Mirador Consulting, LLC. Mirador draws on the diversity of Dr. Foley’s professional training and experience, offering clients services from strategic planning through project management in areas including historic preservation planning, land use planning, institution building, resource development, and conflict mitigation.

Dr. Foley’s primary practice brings together the disciplines of historic preservation and land use planning, approaching the conservation of historic buildings, neighborhoods and landscapes not as museum pieces but as elements of vibrant, evolving communities. Her philosophy is that historic places survive and are embraced by communities when they are able to retain relevance and have meaning in their contemporary contexts. Dr. Foley has additional experience with heritage landscapes, examining the relationships among the built environment, the land and significant view sheds and identifying strategies for thoughtfully retaining their interconnectedness and meaning for the people who enjoy them.

Mirador Consulting is able to offer a full spectrum of preservation and land use planning services: research and documentation; identification of character-defining features; development of design standards and guidelines; building materials conservation recommendations; adaptive reuse strategies; comprehensive planning, preparation for and conduct of public land use review processes, and conflict management in land use processes.

In addition to land use-specific consulting, Mirador also provides organizational consulting. Dr. Foley has extensive experience with non-profit, educational and community-based organizations, leading visioning processes to develop mission statements and organizational structures, as well as planning for and conducting institutional fundraising campaigns.

Dr. Foley is currently the vice-chair of the Historic District Review Board in the Village of Cold Spring, New York and has served previously as vice-chair of the Landmarks Commission in Ithaca, New York. In both municipalities, she has participated in comprehensive planning exercises as well as the development and updating of ordinances and design standards. She holds an MA in Historic Preservation Planning (2002) and a PhD in Land Use Planning (2012) from Cornell University. Her recent research, funded by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and the Barakat Foundation, has examined conflict management in public review processes, focusing on mosque development in America’s suburbs. She has written and lectured extensively on the topic and is considered an expert in the field. Additionally, she is a Fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, and a research affiliate in Harvard University’s Pluralism Project

Education

BA, Ithaca College; MA, PhD, Cornell University

Areas of Expertise

Publications