Sarah Hansen joined the team at Maine State Archives as Director of the Maine Semiquincentennial Commission in June 2024. Prior to joining Archives, Sarah served as Executive Director of Greater Portland Landmarks for four years, and as Director of Preservation Services at Maine Preservation for two years. Sarah discovered her love of community revitalization as a history major at Connecticut College and received a M.A. in Preservation Studies from Boston University. After working with Boston Main Streets, she worked for the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s regional office in Denver covering South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. She also worked for Colorado Preservation, Inc. and with Architectural Heritage Foundation in Boston, a nonprofit historic tax credit developer. After five years in Seattle as Coordinator of the Washington State Main Street Program, she worked for the Arkansas Community Foundation as Statewide Outreach Director.
Sarah currently serves with a number of local, state and national organizations including Maine’s Main Street Advisory Council, the Cultural Alliance of Maine, the Village Review Overlay Committee for the City of Westbrook, the National Preservation Partners Network, and the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions. Sarah is a proud fifth-generation Maine native and is enjoying immersing her southern husband Cary Tyson in the wicked awesome culture of the state.