Joan Pomaranc is a longtime member of KAM Isaiah Israel (KAMII) congregation, a member of its board of directors, and a frequent tour guide for its landmark home in Hyde Park. She is the Senior Director of Advocacy and Special Projects at AIA Chicago and has contributed to all four editions of the AIA Guide to Chicago (most recent edition published in 2022). Joan is also a board member of the Chicago Jewish Historical Society. She has long connections to the Chicago History Museum: on the catalogue team for the Hedrich-Blessing architectural photography collection; as a researcher while a staff member of the Landmarks Division of the Chicago Dept. of Planning and Development; and as a volunteer in the Pioneer Life Gallery. Joan is a lifelong Chicagoan who grew up on the North Side, attending Temple Sholom but with ancestral roots at KAMII.

Rebekah Coffman is a historian and curator currently serving as Chicago History Museum’s curator of religion and community history. She is a passionate believer in and advocate for the preservation and interpretation of local heritage through community-centered approaches. Her research interests focus on themes of religious identity and its expressions within the built environment through visual and material culture. She holds an MA in Historical and Sustainable Architecture from New York University and a BA with majors in Art History and Religion from Hamline University.