Marie Salerno
Marie Salerno leads the Harbor Conservancy’s charge to reinvent and revitalize Federal Hall National Memorial through the arts, humanities, and community engagement launching in 2026. She has held leadership roles at New York City’s cultural, literary, and educational institutions for over five decades. She has created strategic development, marketing and fundraising campaigns and produced major celebrations.
Throughout her career, Salerno has forged alliances in the public and private sectors to unleash the educational power of history. Prior to incubating and founding the Conservancy, she was the campaign finance director for the successful 2001 campaign of Betsy Gotbaum for New York City Public Advocate.
Salerno is the former president of New York City 100, the public-private centenary celebration of the City of New York commemorating the consolidation of New York’s five boroughs into Greater New York in 1898. She led a consortium of over 200 entities, producing and specially arranging hundreds of programs and events that illuminated the city’s rich heritage.
Salerno was Vice President of Public Affairs at the New York Public Library charged with creating its centennial celebration, the platform for launching a $500 million capital drive. Prior to NYPL, she was managing director of Thirteen/WNET.
Salerno was a member of the board of the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico, appointed in 2013 by the Secretary of Interior. She serves on an advisory committee to America250.
America's Field Trip
Engaging students nationwide to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary!
This contest invites students in grades 3–12 to share their perspectives on what America means to them — and earn the opportunity to travel for field trip experiences at some of the nation’s most iconic historic and cultural landmarks.