Doug Piekarz, President & CEO of Akron Zoo was our presenter on June 23rd. Doug became president & CEO in 2015. Prior to taking the lead role at the zoo, Doug was the vice president of planning and conservation programs. Doug has over 26 years in the zoo profession, specializing in the areas of strategic and master planning, animal and facility operations, exhibit development, and green practices. Doug joined that Akron Zoo in 1998 as the general curator and has held several positions at the Akron Zoo. Before coming to the Akron Zoo, Doug was a senior wild animal keeper and area supervisor at the Bronx Zoo in New York.Doug is very passionate about conservation and building value for wildlife and wild places through connecting people to nature. He shared that 50% of the Akron Zoo revenues are from the Summit County tax levy and 50% are from earned revenue. As an essential business during COVID-19, the Akron Zoo maintained a daily staff, a critical staff and an at-home staff.
Akron Zoo's mission is to support the community by connecting our lives to wildlife while inspiring lifelong learning and conservation action.
During the pandemic, the Akron Zoo also partnered with the Akron-Canton Foodbank by providing of the Zoo's lots for food distribution. In addition, since the public could not enjoy the Zoo's blooms this year, the horticulturists harvested the blooms and delivered them to First Responders.
The Akron Zoo is one of only 237 AZA-Accredited Zoo's,
Click here to view all of Doug's slides from the day.
