Tyler A. Ray is a planner, historic preservationist, and public historian based in Philadelphia, PA. His call to historic preservation and city planning was deeply inspired by his life growing up in North Central Philadelphia and attending his familial house of worship, Memorial Church of the Advocate. Much like the Advocate, Tyler began to witness that many historic structures and properties in his marginalized community were in disrepair. This led him to tackle the disparity between the intersections of race, socio-economic status, urban planning, and historic preservation. As a graduate of Temple University’s Regional Planning and Historic Preservation departments, Tyler has become involved with several preservation projects taking place in North Philadelphia such as: Friends of Mount Vernon Cemetery, Co-Coordinator for the Friends of the Henry Tanner House, Committee member of the Church of St. James-The-Less Preservation committee, and most personally, serves as board chair of the Memorial Church of the Advocate Preservation Trust. Currently, Tyler works as a Program Manager for the Community Design Collaborative.