Founded APOYOnline to link professionals in the Americas and Europe, as well as to share information on regional and international heritage preservation activities. She initiated projects with the Getty Conservation Institute, the International Institute for Conservation and the American Institute for Conservation to obtain traveling grants that allowed over 900 people from developing countries to attend international conservation events.

In 2004 she retired from her position as a Special Projects Officer at the Library of Congress, Washington, D. C.. She has long reviewed and coordinated teams of translators working on technical publications from English to Spanish and vice-versa for several higher learning institutions in the USA, Canada and Latin America. In 2001 her efforts were recognized when she received the “Rutherford John Gettens Merit Award” for outstanding service to the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works and the field of heritage conservation.

Amparo has both a MS in Textile Science program (Conservation of Textiles) and an MA in Art History (Museum Studies) from the University of Missouri.

Francisco Vieira retired from the Inter-American Development Bank (Washington, D.C.) in 2013 and became a full-time international development consultant. He has a Master and a PhD in Public Administration from the University of Southern California (USC), an MBA from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, and a bachelor in Engineering from the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (Brazil).  Francisco was an instructor at USC and Visiting Instructor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and at the George Washington University School of Business and Public Administration. He is a member of the International Advisory Board of the Universidad Autonóma de Nuevo León (Mexico), and of the Latin America Leadership Program at Georgetown University.

Ann Seibert is retired  after working approximately 15 years as a bench paper conservator at the Library of Congress and as a preventive preservation and administration staff at the National Archives in the US. It was a great  honour to work with others to preserve the county’s archival and educational resources. One of her great joys was to learn more about the field of conservation through travel, consultation and supporting others to learn about preservation, emergency preparedness and management and scientific principles in conservation in various countries. She also volunteered in the early days of APOYO to work on the newsletter and have enjoyed lifetime friendships made through this network.

Photography Conservator and Former Coordinator of the Center for Photographic Conservation and Preservation (2002 – March 2020), under the auspices of the National Foundation of Arts, Brazil. Collaborating teacher of the Professional Master’s Program in the Preservation and Management of Cultural Heritage in the Sciences and Health, FIOCRUZ. Master of Arts in Conservation – Camberwell College of Arts – University of The Arts, London, UK, 2001, sponsored by FUNARTE and VITAE Foundation. She has provided training in photographic conservation in various states of Brazil and different countries of Latin America and Caribbean invited by ICCROM and other institutions. She has provided consultancy to several Brazilian institutions in photography conservation, as well as coordinated several conservation projects. Author of articles and technical leaflets on photographic conservation. Regular member of the International Council of Museums Brazil, ICOM CC Conservation Committee, Brazilian Committee / Photographic Materials Group, since 2004. Core Team Member of APOYOnline – Association for Heritage Preservation of Americas, since 2020 and Board Member since 2023.

Laura Branden retired from Westat, a social science research organization, in 2023 after 34 years.  In her last 12 years at Westat, she was the project director on the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and the National Study of Caregiving (NSOC), and served as the manager of Westat’s field training work group.  Before working at Westat, Ms. Branden was the data archivist for the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) for 8 years.  She has extensive experience in working on large, complicated computer-assisted surveys, project management, budgeting, adult training development, and various computer systems and software. Ms. Branden graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1973 with a degree in history, specializing in ancient civilizations.  She has been a resident of Montgomery County, Maryland for 35 years, and her previous volunteer activities include serving on the board of Coral Cantigas in Montgomery County, Maryland and on the board of NARAL in Franklin County, Ohio.