Doug Piekarz is here to save the world

As the zoo’s master plan — penned with his help in his former role — began to play out, Piekarz and his team started evaluating how to grow revenue. They also wanted to expand philanthropic development, engagement and stewardship within the community.
Looking to engage that mission with the Greater Akron community, the zoo brought in marketing professionals to explore how to market more effectively. It also brought in a firm to help it look at development and philanthropy, which led to the creation of a development department.
It worked to knock down socio-economic barriers to attendance, joining the Museums For All program, through which those receiving governmental food assistance can gain free or reduced admission by presenting their EBT card. And began offering free admission on select holidays.
For all its work, every public dollar invested in the Akron Zoo since 2011 has returned nearly $8 to the community in economic impact. And given the importance the zoo places on education, in 2018 alone, its education department reached some 84,200 learners and partnered with 104 school systems to deliver programming.
Piekarz says that, not including the people who work at the zoo, the business of the zoo supports 850 full-time-equivalent jobs within Summit County. And from 2011 to 2018, it produced about $18 million in tax revenue for Summit County and the surrounding governments.
Work-life balance?
Piekarz is, at all times, scientist/CEO/conservationist/husband/father — dispositions and disciplines that trade equally on his personal exchange.
“When I hear people talk about the idea of work-life balance, like you’ve got two people and you have to balance it, I see flaws in that because you are one person,” Piekarz says.
To him, all experiences are brought to bear on all decisions, and all decisions potentially impact the chances that humanity and wildlife have a mutually beneficial future together. That also affects his approach to leadership, allowing him to tap into his personal passion to provide the motivation behind a mission. It means using his scientific skills to gather data, ask the right questions, get input from experts and then, as a leader, put it all together with an authentic message colored not by logic but by heart.

“That’s what needs to happen when you’re actually looking to move something forward for the benefit of humanity and wildlife,” Piekarz says. “It’s a motivation behind that mission and looking for the connecting points that make it real to everybody because it can be real to everybody. But sometimes you just have to figure out how.”

 

TAKEAWAYS

» Bring your whole self to bear on organizational issues.
» Asking questions is essential to problem solving.
» Motivate employees by connecting them to the bigger mission.