Former director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, hospitality entrepreneur join Monticello's Board of Trustees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - October 30, 2017
Media Contact: Mia Magruder Dammann

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the private, nonprofit organization that owns and operates Monticello, announces the election of Melody C. Barnes and Molly G. Hardie to its Board of Trustees. 

“We are honored to welcome these distinguished individuals to our board,” said Leslie Greene Bowman, president and CEO of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation.  “Drawing on their deep experience -- in national policy, nonprofits and the hospitality industry, Molly and Melody will advance our efforts to share Jefferson’s world, his ideas and the relevance of history with a national and global audience.”

Melody C. Barnes is a Co-Founder and Principal of MB2 Solutions LLC, a domestic strategy firm, and a senior fellow in presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. She is chair of the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions and Opportunity Youth Incentive Fund and vice chair of the advisory board of the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU. From January 2009 until January 2012, Ms. Barnes served as Assistant to the President of the United States and Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council.

Molly G. Hardie is Co-Chairman of H7 Holdings, LLC, a private family investment company that owns and manages Keswick Hall and Golf Club in Keswick, Virginia; and the Hermitage Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. Ms. Hardie has served on numerous local boards, including the UVA Health Foundation Board and the Virginia Discovery Museum Board. She was an active member of the Young Families Committee for the Children’s Medical Center and the Children’s Medical Center/ Children’s Hospital Committee at the University of Virginia.

For more information on Monticello and its board of trustees, visit Monticello.org.

About The Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello

The Thomas Jefferson Foundation was incorporated in 1923 to preserve Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, in Charlottesville, Virginia. Today, the foundation seeks to share Jefferson’s world, his ideas and the relevance of history with a national and global audience. Monticello is recognized as a National Historic Landmark and a United Nations World Heritage Site. As a private, nonprofit organization, the foundation’s regular operating budget does not receive ongoing government support to fund its twofold mission of preservation and education. About 440,000 people visit Monticello each year. For information, visit Monticello.org.

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