Shawn Morris, President
Shawn Morris is a long-time advocate for city living in Albany. She served as the 7th Ward Councilmember for 12 years and Common Council President for four years. As an elected official, she worked to establish and promote neighborhood associations and other community groups working to improve the quality of life in city neighborhoods. Shawn authored local ordinances establishing the Vacant Building Registry, neighborhood commercial design standards and commissions to review the park system and the city charter. Shawn currently serves on the board of the Delaware Area Neighborhood Association and is recently retired as the Director of Public Information for the Office of the New York State Attorney General.
Beth Mosall, 1st Vice President
Beth is an architect by profession with a passion for historic architecture and craftsmanship. She is also the principal and owner of DBBM through which she designs sensi- tive additions and garages for historic houses, creates scopes of work; and does scope and design work on the rehabilitation of historic houses, commercial and mixed use buildings across the greater Capital Region. While she talks the talk in her professional life, Beth walks the walk in her daily life. In her “free time,” Beth has restored two historic houses in the Pine Hills neighborhood, a two family home at 892 Mercer Street (a 2019 Preservation Merit Award winning project) and her own home on South Pine Avenue. She can often be found stripping paint, sourcing salvage, cleaning salvaged tile, and restoring wood windows.
Derek Baranski, 2nd Vice President
Derek Baranski is a Slingerlands native who at a young age grew to love the city after visiting his mom at work downtown or spending time at the family restaurant, Pagliacci Ristorante on South Pearl Street. After studying at Arizona State University, he returned to Albany and has lived downtown since. His love for the city has driven much of his professional life; he currently is a Board Member with the Friends of Schuyler Mansion, the Vice Chair of the Albany Riverfront Collaborative Board of Directors, and has been a volunteer tour guide with Historic Albany Foundation since 2023. He previously worked as a staffer in the New York State Assembly, and is currently a Legislative Representative with the NYC Mayor’s office. In his free time, Derek enjoys reading, cycling, and spending time with family.
April Fallon, Secretary
Originally from Long Island, April went to RPI for her undergraduate degree in Environmental Engineering and Sustainability Studies and enjoyed her time there and the Capital Region so much she decided to stay. She fell in love with the historic downtowns and the charming homes and scenery of the area, and started looking at listings in the area and dreaming of one day giving new life to an old house. April started her journey of getting her real estate license after realizing how wonderful it would be to help others find their dream homes. She recently bought a home built in 1884 and has been working hard to preserve it. Since becoming a realtor, she has tried to capture some of the historic homes and buildings that Albany and the capital region are so lucky to have. She’s looking forward to giving Albany's history a voice and work toward its preservation with HAF.
Robert Coughlin, Treasurer
Robert Coughlin is life-long resident of the Albany area with a great enthusiasm for history. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Siena College and received his Juris Doctor degree from Albany Law School. Now retired, Mr. Coughlin was appointed Counsel to the New York State and Local Retirement System in 2007. He began his career with the Legal Division of the Office of the New York State Comptroller, the administrative head of the Retirement System and sole trustee of the NYS Common Retirement Fund, over thirty years ago. He also served as the State Comptroller’s representative to the September 11 Workers Protection Task Force. He is currently renovating a 1920s house.