Ro King is engaged in community empowerment and protecting cultural heritage around the world, from the United States to Indonesia. She is Board Secretary of Global Heritage Fund and serves on the development and governance committees. Ro joined GHF to continue her work with organizations that empower communities through cultural heritage projects. After a career in strategic marketing using big data, Ro led the Indonesian Heritage Society in Jakarta for four years.
Ro is a trustee of the Menokin Foundation in Virginia – seeking to re-imagine the ruins of an historic American home by re-creating the missing sections in structural glass. She serves as a national trustee of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, promoting the transformative power of art through its museum, school and community programming. An advocate for higher education, Ro is communications director for First Generation Harvard Alumni, serves on the board of the Collective Success Network in Philadelphia, and chairs the Dean’s Global Advisory Council at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.
Here’s why Ro supports cultural heritage and community engagement.
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On the importance of preserving cultural heritage:
I think it is instinctual for humans to want to feel connected to something larger than themselves – to other people, to places, to history. Each of us wants to understand where we fit into the great historical narrative. Preserving tangible heritage allows us to experience places firsthand and to explore links to the past. Preserving intangible heritage allows the memory of the past to live on – it is the bond between the past and the future.
On the ability of cultural heritage to change lives:
The notion of cultural heritage creating links for memory and social identity is all rather grand and philosophical. Preserving cultural heritage has demonstrable economic benefits. Whether from skilled labor required to maintain a site, from reviving artisanal products or from taking part in the tourism sector, those living in and around historic sites can secure their livelihoods from those sites.
In Banteay Chhmar, Cambodia, Global Heritage Fund helped establish a community-based tourism co-operative to open new livelihood opportunities for local residents. Thanks to the CBT, tourism numbers have increased over 200 percent, delivering a shift in the local economy and growth in English-language guiding and homestays. Photo: Denis Gray
On the importance of engaging civil society in cultural heritage projects:
It doesn’t make much sense for a cultural heritage project to be driven by a group from outside the area who will disappear once the project is completed! Engaging the local community in projects helps to ensure sustained progress and long-term project success. It’s great when the community not only feels ownership of the project but also ownership of the place, where the place becomes integral to the community identity and simply a cool spot to live.
On the importance of women leadership in heritage:
One reason I like to see women lead in the heritage sector is that they inspire and empower the women in the communities they serve with cultural heritage projects. Especially in some of the more remote areas of the world, it may be the first time young women see a female archaeologist or program director, and this helps them to envision possibilities for themselves.
The Dong women in Dali Village, Guizhou Province, are renowned for their traditional textiles. Our partnership with American Express is revitalizing traditional crafts in Dali and connecting youth with local heritage by creating a new space for textile production. Photo: Zhang Li
On her support for Global Heritage Fund:
I think Global Heritage Fund is well positioned to empower communities through historic preservation. Their work is not just about preserving historic sites but about working with those who live in the present to create a viable future, which includes a link to the past. The partnership model — bringing together funders, foundations, heritage professionals, universities with the local community — helps GHF to run lean. And, the projects are in parts of the world where the catalyst of a heritage project can lead to local economic development.