Greg Werkheiser

Founding Partner
703.408.2002

Greg Werkheiser is an award-winning serial entrepreneur, cultural heritage and civil rights attorney, and leadership educator. He is dedicated to advancing shared social progress through four key strategies: leveraging history, preparing leaders, direct engagement, and securing rights.

As the co-founder of Cultural Heritage Partners, PLLC, Greg has worked to strengthen the connections between humanity’s past, present, and future. Through this law firm, he serves clients worldwide who are committed to addressing complex challenges related to the preservation of artifacts, art, architecture, landscapes, sacred places, and living traditions. Greg’s advocacy has achieved significant victories, particularly in the realm of Indigenous and Black cultural heritage and civil rights.

In addition to his work with Cultural Heritage Partners, Greg is the co-founder and CEO of ARtGlass, a pioneering global technology company specializing in augmented reality (AR) software. ARtGlass empowers museums, historic sites, and cultural attractions to provide immersive tours to millions of visitors, seamlessly blending digital visuals and sound with real-world locations and objects through transparent smartglasses, tablets, and phones.

Recognized as one of America’s leading civic educators by the Carnegie Foundation for Teaching, Greg spent over two decades establishing and leading five national centers dedicated to fostering movements for innovative approaches to leadership education. These groundbreaking institutes include the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia, which focuses on bipartisan civic engagement among youth; the Phoenix Project, promoting social entrepreneurship and civic capacity-building in distressed communities; the George Mason University Center for Social Innovation; the Presidio Institute, specializing in cross-sector leadership; and the ARCUS academy, providing emerging leaders with training in heritage preservation.

In his commitment to thoughtful public leadership, Greg has run as a candidate for the Virginia legislature, earning the endorsement of The Washington Post. His campaign sparked meaningful debate in the Commonwealth, addressing government ethics, electoral reform, civil rights, educational opportunity, child welfare, and transportation. Greg’s speechwriting skills have been enlisted by leaders at the White House, the U.S. Embassy in Paris, and by candidates for national office. He frequently speaks on topics including the societal impact of technological growth, the importance of heritage preservation, the evolving nature of public leadership, and the necessity of political engagement.

Greg obtained his Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law and holds a B.A. in Government from the College of William and Mary. During his time at William and Mary, Greg served as student government president, chaired a statewide student coalition advocating for public higher education investments, and co-founded the NAACP chapter.

REPRESENTATIVE ENGAGEMENTS

  • Advised the Mayor of Richmond, VA, in the successful removal of 13 city-owned “Lost-Cause” Confederate monuments from the infamous Monument Avenue. Represented 50 neighbors living in direct lines of sight to the Robert E. Lee Monument, filing a state Supreme Court brief in successful litigation securing the monument’s removal. Represented the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia in taking ownership of Richmond’s removed monuments.
  • Represented the Montpelier Descendants Committee, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring the narratives of enslaved Americans at plantation sites in Central Virginia and comprised of the descendants of those enslaved individuals, in their successful efforts to achieve shared governance on the board of U.S. President James Madison’s Montpelier, the first achievement of its kind in the museum world Represented the Montpelier Foundation during its reconstitution under new leadership and structural parity.
  • Protected Rassawek, the ancestral capital of the Monacan Indian Nation, from destruction by the construction of water pumping facilities, preventing the disturbance of ancestral burials and destruction of rich cultural resources. Named by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as among America’s most endangered historic sites, the four-year battle enlisted tens of thousands of citizens and preservation organizations nationwide.
  • Represent six of the most recently federally -recognized Tribal Nations in advancing building their sovereign governments and securing their cultural heritage. 
  • Led successful federal and state civil rights lawsuits on behalf of an American Indian tribe against the State of New Jersey for undermining long-held recognition of the Tribe and interfering in its sovereignty and programs.
  • Counseled foreign governments seeking international cooperation on strategies for protecting their cultural heritage sites suffering losses looting as part of a $4 billion black market trade in looted antiquities.
  • Negotiated a successful conclusion to the historic resources review process for the nation’s first off-shore wind farm, resulting in multi-million dollar investments in historic preservation.
  • Protected the Black Creek Site, a major American Indian archaeological and sacred site, through 5-years of precedent-setting litigation – now a state park.

REPRESENTATIVE PRESENTATIONS

  • Keynote Speaker” “National Native American Heritage Month,” National Labor Relations Board, Office of EEO, Washington, DC 2017.
  • Opening Keynote: “The Future of History,” U.S. Naval Academy, The Old Line State Summit, Annapolis, MD 2017.
  • Opening Keynote: “The Future of History,” Adler Theatre, Preserve Iowa Summit, Davenport, IA 2016.
  • Presenter: “Preservation50,” National Trust for Historic Preservation, PastForward Conference, Washington, DC, 2015.
  • Keynote Speaker, “The Future of Cultural Property Law,” Santa Clara University School of Law, Cultural Heritage Law Society, Santa Clara, CA, 2015.
  • Plenary Speaker, “Tribal Energy Development & Cultural Preservation,” Ute Tribe Energy Conference & Expo, Denver, CO, 2014.
  • Opening Speaker, “Building A Cross-Sector Leadership Movement,” The Presidio Institute & White House Forum on Cross-Sector Leadership, San Francisco, CA, 2013.
  • Keynote Speaker, “Keys to Success for Community Action Outcomes,” Community Action Partnership Management & Leadership Training Conference, San Diego, CA, 2013.
  • Panel Moderator, “Social Enterprise for Nonprofits,” Nonprofit Bootcamp 2013, Microsoft Campus, Mountain View, CA, 2013.
  • Keynote Speaker, “Solving Complex Social Challenges,” Social Innovation Program Commencement Ceremony, The Newseum, Washington, DC, 2012.
  • Opening Speaker, “Entrepreneurship in the Age of Austerity,” Accelerating Social Entrepreneurship Conference, Arlington, VA, 2011.
  • Speaker, “On New Forms of Public Leadership,” Active Citizen’s Conference, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, 2011.
  • Keynote Speaker, “The Power of Social Innovation Education,” Launch of the George Mason University Center for Social Entrepreneurship, Fairfax, VA, 2011.
  • Keynote Speaker, “The Story of Your Founding,” NAACP William and Mary Chapter 15th Anniversary Celebration, Williamsburg, VA, 2009.
  • Presenter: “Preservation Litigation: The Battle to Save the Black Creek Site,” William and Mary School of Law, Williamsburg, VA, 2010.
  • Commencement Keynote, “Leading Your Life in Exponential Times,” South County High School, Fairfax, VA, 2010.
  • Keynote Speaker, “Phoenix Rising: Reviving Economically Distressed Communities,” Spencer Center for Civic and Global Engagement at Mary Baldwin College, Staunton, VA, 2008.

PRESS

Greg’s work has appeared in more than 500 media outlets, including in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and on National Public Radio. Examples include:

ADMISSIONS


  • Virginia State Bar
  • District of Columbia Bar
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • U.S District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
  • U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, pro hac vice
  • Virginia Supreme Court