A note from our Executive Director: We are grateful for our community's support in the work we do to accomplish our mission, engage all people in fostering empathy for nature and wildlife, and so much more. Here's to 2025 🎉
7 years ago - January 2, 2018 - was my first day at the Lake Superior Zoo as the Director of Marketing & Development. I was excited to dive into the work of helping revitalize the Zoo, not knowing that this work would become a defining path in my career. Today, I have the same excitement and passion for the Zoo and work as I did then - maybe even more now - because of the amazing things the Zoo Team has accomplished over the last several years. ✅ In 2020, we faced an unprecedented pandemic in what was supposed to be a banner year for the LSZ. Despite those difficult times, our team preserved through resilience and innovation. For the first time in a long while, we closed out the fiscal year in the positive thanks to new exhibits like Bear Country, created distance-learning opportunities like our Zoo2You box, and most importantly kept our animals, staff, visitors, and community safe. ✅ In 2021, we invested in a brand-new event, Zoo Lights, to drive additional traffic during the winter months both at the Zoo and to West Duluth. The updates to our strategic and long-range plans began to take shape after stakeholder feedback and in-depth analysis. Additionally, we paid off our existing LOC with the City of Duluth. ✅In 2022, after great effort and both significant investments by our staff and board, we renewed AZA accreditation through 2027. We launched our DEAI program and committee, which was noted as a point of particular achievement during our 3-day AZA inspection. ✅ In 2023, we celebrated our centennial anniversary, opened the first newly-constructed exhibit in 20 years (red panda), and committed to several new financial accessibility programs. We also redeveloped the nature trail overlooking the Kingsbury Creek waterfall that had been closed for years. ✅ In 2024, the final remaining empty exhibit on grounds was renovated and is now home to two reindeer! Work will continue on this project including the addition of a visitor overlook into the caribou habitat, educational elements, and more. We also continued to rescue animals like coyotes Kobuk & Katmai, and one of our team members went viral after saving two owls in one day! So what’s ahead for 2025? We are currently working on a predesign study of our main building, which is a critical component for future growth. We remain committed to our core values and mission, knowing our work towards building a future where all living things thrive together is far from over, yet we celebrate the significant strides our organization has taken to realizing that vision thus far. I’ll be bringing you all along with me this year via a weekly post here where I’ll share insights, successes, and lessons learned from my work at the LSZ and in the community. Cheers to 2025 ✨
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