Mr. Manigault began working in media/communications in 1987 with television news in Colorado.  In 1989 he went to Washington and joined the National Geographic Society.  After a few years there, he went to work for The Washington Post as a copy aid.  He was promoted to the Editorial Department as a copy editor, a position he held for several years before returning to Charleston to work in the family business at Evening Post Publishing Company.  Upon return to Charleston, he spent four years as an editorial writer for The Post and Courier and one year in the Business Office.  He is now President of Evening Post Community Publications Group.  Mr. Manigault’s dedication to non-profit organizations is seen in his involvement with Lowcountry Open Land Trust, Gibbes Art Museum, Preservation Society of Charleston, Historic Rice Fields, Palmetto Conservation Foundation, Santee Focus, Middleton Place Plantation, Spirit of South Carolina Project, College of Charleston Library Committee, and International Crane Foundation.

Mr. Williams has been involved with all phases of the building industry, from design to construction, for nearly forty years.  Currently, he manages JHW Consulting Group based in Charleston, South Carolina, where he represents a variety of construction-related companies, providing consulting assistance in business development and marketing.  He was trained as an architect at Princeton University, graduating in 1967 with a Master of Fine Arts degree.  He is a licensed architect with a NCARB certificate which enables him to obtain license to practice architecture in all fifty United States.  Mr. Williams served as an officer in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War, where he was responsible for developing computer-aided ship and aircraft design systems.  This was followed by work in Boston and Philadelphia for several architecture firms.  He then joined Turner Construction, currently the largest general contractor in the United States, where he progressed to the position of Manager of Construction Marketing in the New York area.  He then joined J. A. Jones Construction Company, an international general contractor based in Charlotte, NC.  During that time, he developed new business for the company throughout the United States, the Far East, and Mexico.  A significant highlight was obtaining the contract to construct the Petronas Tower in Malaysia, until very recently the world’s tallest building.

Ms. Guest is an avid supporter and volunteer of ACBA and has contributed her time since our inception.  Her work also includes serving as a board member for the Spoleto Festival, USA and other nonprofits in Charleston, South Carolina.  

John LaVerne, a native Charlestonian and 1991 graduate of The Citadel, became fascinated with history and tourism while interning at The City of Charleston Tourism Department during his senior year of college. Mr. LaVerne began his career as a tour guide in 1991 and founded Bulldog Tours in 2001. Bulldog Tours is dedicated to the preservation of Charleston's historic structures and a portion of all ticket sales is donated to several local buildings and sites. To date, more than $1.5 million dollars has been donated for the restoration and upkeep of The Old Exchange Building, The Old City Jail and The Circular Congregational Church. John. LaVerne earned a Golden Pineapple Award from the Charleston Area CVB Travel Council in 2009 for his partnership endeavors in the local tourism industry. In 2010 he joined the Board of Directors for the Charleston Area Convention & Visitors Bureau's Travel Council. His company has been featured nationally USA Today, Southern Living, and the Travel Channel. He has donated almost $2 million to local historic sites including the Old City Jail (ACBA), The Old Exchange Building, and the Circular Congregational Church. He resides in Charleston with his wife Rhonda, son, Jackson, and new daughter Ava.

General contractor Kenneth Canty is President and Chief Executive Officer of Freeland Construction Company, Inc. based in Charleston, SC. A graduate of University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in Civil Engineering. Ken has more than a decade of experience in construction for both public and private projects including the Arthur Ravenel Bridge Project (Charleston), The Central Artery/Tunnel Project (Boston, MA) and the Boeing aircraft assembly plant (Charleston, SC). He has been recognized regionally and nationally as a leader in minority business entrepreneurship, most recently he won the southeast regional Minority Small Business of the Year for 2001 and was nominated for the National Minority Small Business Person of the Year (2011) award by the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency. Married with two children.

Johanna Martin-Carrington is the executive Director of Jenkins Institute in Charleston, also known as the Daniel Joseph Jenkins Institute for Children. A South Carolina native, Ms. Martin-Carrington moved to Compton, California in 1960 and raised her six children there while she was a district manager for the US Census Bureau. Being something of a community activist, she takes pride in the fact that five of them returned to the community to live as adults. Her career spans several decades of work in both the education and civic arenas, she has served on many Boards, and she has won numerous awards for her community service. A military veteran, Martin-Carrington holds a Bachelors' degree from Virginia State University's United States Armed Forces Institute and a Masters' degree from UCLA.

Margaret O'Brien grew up in Charleston, graduated from Charleston High School and Randolph-Macon Woman's College with an A.B. in history, then taught physics and chemistry in Charleston. She subsequently moved to Washington, DC, obtained a master's degree from American University, and built her career in systems and information management for the Federal government. She worked for the National Oceanic Administration, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Energy, and finally as a Chief Information Officer at the Department of Transportation. She has been active as a volunteer, organizational officer, and patron in a number of Washington neighborhood, civic, historic preservation, and cultural organizations, and sponsored Spoleto events. Since retiring, she has focused on improving her building skills by renovating their 1910 row house. She and her husband Dennis have enjoyed traveling throughout the world, including trips to Charleston for family visits and Spoleto events. She is the oldest of the nine children of John and Nancy Hawk, who was a founding supporter of ACBA and later chairman of the Board of Trustees.

Dr. Pruitt has a wife, three children and lives in Downtown Charleston. He graduated Washington and Lee University in 1955 and started medical school at Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest College. Following medical school, Dr. Pruitt served in the United States Air Force where he completed his internship and earned his Pilot’s wings and was a flight surgeon. After service, he completed his Residency in Obstetrics & Gynecology for three years. After residency, Dr. Pruitt was a Fellow in Reproductive Biology at Bowman Gray. During his vast medical career, Dr. Pruitt pioneered medical applications of Laser Technology. He is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Laser Surgery. In 1967, Dr. Pruitt was an Assistant Professor with the Department of OB/GYN at the Medical University of South Carolina. In 1969, Dr. Pruitt began a private practice in 1969. After more than 40 years of medical service, in addition to serving as a Clinical Associate with the Medical University of South Carolina, Dr. Pruitt retired in 2007. Dr. Pruitt remains active in over 20 societies and is responsible for 6 academic articles published during his career. He has been awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal, the South Carolina Order of the Palmetto, the American Academy of Family Physicians Award, The Community Teacher of the Year Award, and the Volunteer Clinical Faculty Award from the Medical University of South Carolina.

Dr. Pruitt’s devotion to society is evidenced by his current board memberships with the College of Charleston Art Department Advisory Board, Waring Library, Medical University of South Carolina, and the First Reliance Bank (Local Advisory Board). In addition to his current Board positions, Dr. Pruitt has also been appointed to thirteen other positions serving both profit and non-profit organizations. He is a member of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, the Family (San Francisco, CA), the Carolina Yacht Club, Cedar Creek Racquet Club (Cashiers, NC), and the Charleston Downtown Athletic Club.

Mr. Ziff is the founder and chairman of Ziff Properties, Inc. (ZPI). He was formerly a general partner of Ziff-Button properties in Dallas, TX and the managing partner of Lower East Redevelopment, Inc. in New York, NY. He served as chairman and CEO of Dual–Lite, Inc. of Newtown, CT and was founder and director of Tokyo Electron Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan. A resident of Charleston since 1990, he is very active in several Charleston civic groups including Beth Elohim, the Charleston Ballet Theater, and a task force to modernize city government. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in art history from Columbia University.

Mr. Philip Simmons (1912-2009) was one of the most celebrated Master Blacksmiths in the United States and over the course of a lifetime fashioned more than five hundred pieces of ornamental iron in Charleston, South Carolina. From end to end, the city of Charleston is truly decorated by his hand. In 1982, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded him its National Heritage Fellowship, the highest honor that the United States can bestow on a traditional artist. He received South Carolina’s “lifetime achievement” award and “The Order of the Palmetto.” Pieces of his work have been acquired by the National Museum of History, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Atlanta History Center, among others. The garden of St. John’s Reformed Episcopal Church is dedicated to Philip as a tribute to his exceptional mastery of iron and his inspirational character.