Mount Vernon, VA — The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association (MVLA) has elected Helen Rankin Butler as a Board Member from the state of Ohio. In this role, Butler will support the Association’s mission to preserve and protect George Washington’s Mount Vernon and advance its educational and historic preservation initiatives as the nation commemorates 250 years of American independence.
Butler brings extensive experience in education, nonprofit governance and philanthropy, with a record of leadership at schools and cultural institutions in the Cleveland region. A former classroom teacher and summer camp director, she has devoted much of her career and volunteer service to helping young people learn and strengthening the organizations that serve them.
“Helen Butler’s commitment to education and her extensive experience guiding nonprofit institutions will be valuable assets to the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association,” said Anne “Dede” Neal Petri, Regent of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. “As we commemorate America’s 250th anniversary, her leadership will help us connect new generations with George Washington’s life and legacy and sustain Mount Vernon’s work for the years ahead.”
“I am honored to join the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association during this significant anniversary year,” said Butler. “As an educator and student of history, I believe that understanding our past helps us make thoughtful choices about our future. I look forward to supporting Mount Vernon’s work to preserve this extraordinary place and share the lessons of George Washington’s leadership with people across the country and around the world.”
Butler served as board president of Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, from 2017 to 2023 and has served on its board for more than two decades. She chairs the school’s Unbounded Possibility Capital and Endowment Campaign and its Nominating Subcommittee. Her previous leadership roles include chairing the Head of School Search and Transition Committees and the Student & Faculty Life Committee.
Her civic and cultural service includes membership on the board of the Cuyahoga County Public Library Foundation since 2014, where she chaired the Development Committee from 2019 to 2023. She also has served on the board of the Musical Arts Association, which operates the Cleveland Orchestra, since 2006 and chairs its Governance Committee. She previously served on the board of the Rainbow Babies and Children’s Foundation and as president of the University School Parents’ Association.
Before her extensive board service, Butler taught English, history and geography to fifth graders at the Brearley School in New York City. From 1994 to 2005, she directed Camp Aloha Hive at the Aloha Foundation in Fairlee, Vermont, overseeing programming, staff recruitment and training, family engagement and fundraising. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Yale University, where she also participated in the Teacher Preparation Program.
Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, is owned and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, the oldest national historic preservation organization in the United States. The estate is open to visitors and includes the Mansion, a museum and education center, gardens, tombs, a working farm, a functioning distillery, and a gristmill, as well as the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. Learn more at www.mountvernon.org.