Belonging to the Zoo Atlanta herd

Zoo Atlanta is home to a variety of team members you with a smile and help with any questions you may have, but behind the bustling of guests and animal noises, you have a network of humans that interact with each other every single day. So, what does the Zoo Atlanta herd look like?

Take our organization’s internal committees, for example; these are opportunities for departments to intermingle and meet other team members. The committees serve as a way for us to develop leadership roles, project management skills, and further our own expertise. The beauty happens when a committee has a big event coming up. While the committee members have their allocated tasks, we also have the opportunity to collaborate with other teams.

For example, each year Zoo Atlanta participates in the Atlanta PRIDE Parade. The task is big and led by the Culture and Community Subcommittee. It requires all the creative juices and manpower we can get, so many committees come together and support one another.

This year we came up with the idea of decorating one of our ZooMobiles as a giant peacock. We were extremely excited to show the city what Zoo Atlanta was all about! Our peacock framework was built by members of the Research and Ambassador Animals Team (thank you Roxanne and Matt).  The peacock was decorated with upcycled materials sourced by the Green Team (thank you Amy and Cara) and from a local upcycle store (thank you Scraplanta)! The sewing, hours of glueing, and theme were all done by our Education and Public Events Teams (thank you Sarah, Lindsey, and Colleen). The most important task of all, driving the ZooMobile with a humongous peacock mounted onto it, was all done by Dr. Joe! The city loved it! We got praise all around, and I learned what it meant to be a part of the Zoo Atlanta herd.

The most incredible moments rarely happen in isolation; they happen through an unstoppable force of community and collaboration. Yes, we showed up and out for our city, but I was also able to see the importance of showing up and out for each other.

I would like to thank everyone who participated in this year’s parade. Your hard work and dedication to the herd is not unnoticed, and I enjoyed seeing everyone’s vision pay off. Thank you so much, and I am excited to see what we all come up with for next year!

Nas K.
Ambassador Animals Team