Organizations Filed Purposes:
Celebrating and Saving Wildlife & Wild Places - 1. Demonstrate extraordinary leadership in conservation, animal welfare and environmental sustainability. 2. Inspire with engaging, meaningful, memorable experiences, and equitable educational opportunities that lead to the appreciation and stewardship of nature. 3. Celebrate and value biodiversity and human diversity, while ensuring that our audience, staff and volunteers reflect the multicultural fabric that is the strength of our community. 4. Provide innovative facilities and programs that contribute to the region's economic vitality. 5. Demonstrate organizational excellence consistent with a commitment to outstanding service, as well as progressive and responsible resource management. *Revised 2021, pending board approval*
ANIMAL CARE, WELFARE AND CONSERVATION: The Detroit Zoological Society continues its purpose of celebrating and saving wildlife by demonstrating leadership in animal care, wildlife conservation and animal welfare. The Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Center had 2,892 individual animals representing 239 species in its care as of December 31, 2020. The Detroit Zoological Society is a leader in species conservation through its local, national and international field conservation programs, its support of partners' field conservation work through grants and technical and/or on-the-ground assistance, and captive breeding of threatened and endangered species at the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Center. The Detroit Zoological Society's Center for Zoo and Aquarium Animal Welfare and Ethics is a resource center for captive animal welfare knowledge, research and best practices; a convener and forum for exotic animal welfare science, practice and policy discussions; and a center conducting research and training, and recognizing advances in exotic animal welfare.
EDUCATION: The Detroit Zoological Society continues to provide a broad audience with outstanding and unique educational opportunities that lead to the appreciation and stewardship of nature. Humane education, environmental literacy, responsible resource management, conservation, science literacy and stewardship are fundamental components of education programming. Programs utilize a variety of instructional strategies - including inquiry-based learning, storytelling, interactive technology and citizen science - to meet the various learning styles of the community. Regional school district partnerships enhance humane education and life science experiences in the classroom through onsite programs, teacher training and curriculum support. Due to the pandemic, much of the educational programming was moved to the internet. The DZS education team created unique and engaging daily content for the entire community, with its "Virtual Ventures" and "Virtual Vitamin Z" programs.
GUEST ENGAGEMENT: The Detroit Zoological Society continues to inspire the community with engaging, meaningful and memorable experiences. Significant animal habitats/facilities include the Arctic Ring of Life polar bear/seal habitat, the Devereaux Tiger Forest, the Great Apes of Harambee, the Polk Penguin Conservation Center, the Cotton Family Wolf Wilderness, the Australian Outback Adventure, and the National Amphibian Conservation Center. Normally the Detroit Zoo welcomes more than 1.3 million visitors each year. In addition to animal experiences, other attractions at the Zoo include the 4-D Theater, the Wild Adventure Simulator, Giraffe Encounter, Tauber Family Railroad, Science On a Sphere, and the Carousel. Visitors can also participate in Zoo-sponsored events including Greenfest, Sunset at the Zoo, Meet Your Best Friend at the Zoo, Run Wild, Zoo Boo and Wild Lights. Although attendance was down significantly in 2020 due to the pandemic, the DZS focused on providing a safe and secure experience for the limited number of guests allowed into the park each day.
Executives Listed on Filing
Total Salary includes financial earnings, benefits, and all related organization earnings listed on tax filing
| Name | Title | Hours Per Week | Total Salary |
|---|
| Ron L Kagan | Executive Director/CEO | 50 | $377,213 |
| Scott F Carter | Chief Life Science Officer | 50 | $206,237 |
| Jane Alessandrini | Chief Development Officer | 50 | $165,230 |
| Gerry Vanacker | Chief Operating Officer | 50 | $163,181 |
| Diane Miller | Chief Program Officer | 50 | $148,790 |
| Jeffrey Evans | Chief Financial Officer - Term July 2020 | 50 | $133,020 |
| Sabarras George | Deputy Chief Operating Officer | 40 | $131,667 |
| Robert Schumaker | Director of Finance | 40 | $124,937 |
| Ann Duncan | Director of Animal Health | 40 | $118,247 |
| Ed Falkowski | Director of IT | 40 | $106,090 |
| Ruth Marcec-Greaves | NACC Director | 40 | $97,940 |
| Gail L Warden | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Rachel Vitti | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Joel D Tauber | Director | 1 | $0 |
| James Tate | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Shirley R Stancato | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Andre Spivey | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Grace Shore | Director - Term June 2020 | 1 | $0 |
| Lawrence Scott | Director | 1 | $0 |
| James Sawyer | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Anmar Sarafa | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Rick Ruffner | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Melissa Roy | Director | 1 | $0 |
| James Rosenthal | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Stuart Robbins | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Julie Nicholson | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Virinder Moudgil | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Candice Miller | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Isaiah Mckinnon | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Victor Martin | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Lisa Lis | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Dawn Lee-Cotton | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Bonnie Larson | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Brandon Kolo | Director - Add Aug 2020 | 1 | $0 |
| Alan Kaufman | Director | 1 | $0 |
| George G Johnson | Director - Term Sept 2020 | 1 | $0 |
| Hiram Jackson | Director - Term Nov 2020 | 1 | $0 |
| Hassan Jaber | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Paul Huxley | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Marina A Houghton | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Rejji Hayes | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Jeff Hauswirth | Director - Term Aug 2020 | 1 | $0 |
| Terry S Harvill | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Allan D Gilmour | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Jennifer Grieco | Director - Add Aug 2020 | 1 | $0 |
| Linda Gillum | Director - Term June 2020 | 1 | $0 |
| Kristy Fercho | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Burton D Farbman | Director | 1 | $0 |
| John Erb | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Charles Ellis | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Matthew B Elliott | Director | 1 | $0 |
| David E Duprey | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Beth Daly | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Marvin Daitch | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Matthew P Cullen | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Mary Kay Crain | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Shery L Cotton | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Beth Chappell | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Clark Bunting | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Thomas C Buhl | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Alisha Bell | Director | 1 | $0 |
| N Charles Anderson | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Ismael Ahmed | Director | 1 | $0 |
| Larry Wolfe | Executive Director | 1 | $0 |
| Sean Werdlow | Executive Director | 1 | $0 |
| Richard B Platt | Executive Director | 1 | $0 |
| Shawn Patterson | Executive Director | 1 | $0 |
| Denise J Lewis | Executive Director | 1 | $0 |
| Tom Lewand | Executive Director | 1 | $0 |
| Alan Kalter | Executive Director | 1 | $0 |
| Cynthia Ford | Executive Director | 1 | $0 |
| Karen Dumas | Executive Director | 1 | $0 |
| William Conway | Executive Director | 1 | $0 |
| Larry Alexander | Executive Director - Term Dec 2020 | 1 | $0 |
| Lloyd A Semple | Executive Director | 1 | $0 |
| John G Sznewajs | Treasurer | 2 | $0 |
| Robert G Riney | Vice Chair | 2 | $0 |
| Stephen R Polk | Vice Chair | 2 | $0 |
| Anthony F Earley Jr | Chairman | 4 | $0 |
Data for this page was sourced from XML published by IRS (
public 990 form dataset) from:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/irs-form-990/202121349349304132_public.xml