The Association for the Preservation of the Historic Congressional Cemetery (APHCC) today announced that HCC President Jaclyn Spainhour will step down as of Jan. 17, 2025. She will be stepping into a new role as President and CEO of the Gettysburg Foundation.
For the past four years, Spainhour has played a pivotal role at Congressional Cemetery, welcoming the public as well as loved ones to their final resting place. She strengthened the Cemetery’s core mission: to serve as a welcoming place for family and friends seeking to lay to rest their loved ones.
Spainhour brought on key staff who provided expertise. Together they expanded the Cemetery’s public offerings, advanced environmental sustainability, helped grow and improve the K9 Corps Program, provided a vision on strategic planning, developed the Cemetery’s fundraising efforts and found new and creative ways to engage with our surrounding community like educational tours for local schools and the Holiday Market.
“On behalf of the Board, I cannot express enough my gratitude for Jackie’s leadership and dedication to Congressional Cemetery,” said Richard Greene, Chair of the APHCC Board. “Jackie was the right leader at a critical time for the cemetery. “The Board congratulates Jackie on her new position with the Gettysburg Foundation,” Greene said, “wishes her well in her new endeavor, and is forever thankful for her service.”
“It has been my honor and privilege to serve the Congressional Cemetery community. I look forward to continuing to its work from afar, and visiting this special place in the future,” Spainhour said in a news release.
Her role will be temporarily filled by Director of Programming, A.J. Orlikoff. APHCC has appointed him interim President effective Jan. 18, 2025.
The APHCC Board said that Orlikoff brings a wealth of knowledge to the role as the Cemetery’s face for public outreach, event planning director and community engagement manager, calling him “a dedicated public historian and nonprofit professional who has worked with the cemetery since spring of 2022.”
Next, the HCC Board will initiate a search for a new President to lead the organization into the next chapter. “Our search will focus on finding the right candidate who will uphold the Cemetery’s core mission to preserve, promote and protect the Cemetery and will be someone who brings fresh ideas on how we can continue our mission of education, historic preservation, community engagement, and environmental stewardship,” stated Greene.
Learn more about HCC and events on the site, follow the search for the new President at congressionalcemetery.org
