Andrea Rodgers grew up viewing some of Chicagoland’s nature gems – the Shedd Aquarium, Lincoln Park Zoo and the Brookfield Zoo. She did not know it then, but a person working day she would guide internet marketing and guest functions teams for some of her childhood’s beloved locations.
Following expending 12 a long time at the John G. Shedd Aquarium, this month she joined the Chicago Zoological Modern society, as the new senior vice president of visitor expertise and functions for the Brookfield Zoo.
“It’s an extraordinary time to be commencing, specifically when the zoo is in this critical time in their master preparing where by they are actually envisioning what an remarkable long run of the zoo can look like,” Rodgers explained.
In a cellular phone interview with the Landmark, the Riverside resident mentioned she is thrilled to sign up for an establishment aligned with her passion for animal conservation. In its learn plan, zoo officers will figure out its prolonged-term commitments to science conservation and environmental instruction, as nicely as deeper investments in the treatment and welfare of the animals.
In Rodgers’ area, her passion translates into creating unique experiences for visitors to reconnect with the purely natural world.
“That’s genuinely much more urgent than at any time in this age of increased urbanization when folks are shelling out less and less time outside,” Rodgers stated.
At the Shedd, she led efforts to endorse environmental schooling ordeals that assist the community comprehend the significance of owning a more resilient global ecosystem for folks, animals, and mother nature.
This get the job done was essential to the new release of the institution’s $500 million centennial determination strategic approach.
As a mother increasing a 9-calendar year-old daughter who “will inherit this earth from the relaxation of us,” this mission is also own. Rodgers sees an opportunity for the zoo to make sure that her daughter’s future consists of thriving resilient, character, animals and communities.
“Equitable access and personalized connections to animals and nature has really by no means been far more essential,” she reported.
Spots like the Brookfield Zoo supply prospects to progress environmental motion as folks are brought closer the troubles that species are going through, not only all over the world, but in “our have backyards,” she explained.
She is familiar with this perfectly. Her personal encounters — summer months camps at Chicago parks or time put in in mother nature and Arkansas, in which she lived with her grandparents and sister — led her to this job. In the “Natural State” she also received her B.A. in journalism with an emphasis on community relations from Arkansas Condition University.
A day in Rodgers’ lifetime is under no circumstances the very same. The Riverside resident and mom starts her working day using her daughter to university prior to heading to the Brookfield Zoo.
At the zoo, she applies the know-how garnered in the course of her long tenure at the Shedd to produce new visitor ordeals that fuel mastering and curiosity. She engages with stakeholders and officers to understand their requirements and wishes.
She produces new advertising and promoting campaigns and finds new strategies to provide people nearer to animals. She will also use lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic to generate a lot more inclusive ordeals for all visitors and visitors of the Brookfield Zoo.
“There will in all probability only ever be 1 Wellington the penguin,” she said of the social media feeling at the Shedd, who rose to fame in the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. “But there are so a lot of classes learned coming out of the pandemic, about human resiliency, pure and uncomplicated pleasure that our companies carry.”
In all, she said she is focused to deliver Brookfield Zoo visitor experiences that enable them to become champions for animals, starting off at their group zoo.
“It’s definitely only when we care about anything that we want to conserve it,” Rodgers said. “An expenditure in the Brookfield Zoo isn’t only an investment in nature and animals, it is genuinely also an financial commitment in our communities.”
