JUN 18, 2013 PROGRAM:
The Minnesota Zoo Master Plan
Since assuming the position of Director / CEO of the Minnesota Zoo in 2000, Lee Ehmke has advanced the Zoo as a leading Minnesota conservation, education and cultural institution. Under his leadership the Zoo recently completed the “Heart of the Zoo” public/private fund-raising campaign, generating over $75 million in capital and operating support for the Zoo.
Ehmke’s education and experience in Law (JD Hastings College of the Law) and Environmental Design (Masters in Landscape Architecture, UC Berkeley) has effectively energized the Zoo’s planning and advocacy efforts and its ambitious program of growth. A recently-adopted Facilities Master Plan charts a course for the Minnesota Zoo to build on this success, with a vision of becoming one of the world’s leading zoological institutions.
As President of the Minnesota Zoo Foundation, the Zoo’s non-profit support organization, Ehmke is engaged in efforts to generate increased private financial support of the Zoo and its mission.
Ehmke is an active member of numerous professional organizations, including the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), and is the incoming President of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).