BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The National Elephant Center is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit managed by a Board of Directors. The Board establishes strategic direction, partnerships and governing policies and will manage The Center. The Board is responsible for fundraising to support capital development and operations. Members of The National Elephant Center board of directors are:

Board of Directors:

• Chair, Rick Barongi, Director, Houston Zoo
• Past Chair, Mark C. Reed, Executive Director, Sedgwick County Zoo (Wichita, Kansas)
• Vice Chair, Craig Piper, President/CEO, Denver Zoo
• Treasurer, Dennis Pate, CEO/President, Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo
• Secretary, Mike Blakely, Director, Little Rock Zoo
• Anne Baker, PhD., Executive Director, Toledo Zoological Gardens
• Dr. Robert Dale, Professor of Psychology, Butler University Research Associate, Indianapolis Zoo
• Debbie Figueras-Cano, Community Relations Waste Management
• Dr. Bill Foster, CEO, Birmingham Zoo
• David Jones, Director, North Carolina Zoological Park
• Mike Keele, Deputy Director, Oregon Zoo
• John Lehnhardt, Animal Operations Director, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
• Keith Winsten, Executive Director, Brevard Zoo (Melbourne, FL)

Former board members:

• Dr. Jeffrey Bonner, President and CEO, St. Louis Zoo
• Mike Crowther, President/CEO, Indianapolis Zoo
• Mike Fouraker, Executive Director, Ft. Worth Zoo
• The late Clayton Freiheit, President/CEO, Denver Zoo
• Dr. Deborah Jensen, President/CEO, Woodland Park Zoo (Seattle)

Read a letter from Past Chair Mark C. Reed.