With conservation weekend like “Gorillas on the Line,” empathy is reshaping conservation education at Como Zoo

With 98 percent of the same DNA, gorillas and humans have a lot in common—including our vulnerability to certain viruses. In Africa, gorillas are among the high-risk populations now facing an active Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, where conservation groups are battling to keep the deadly virus out of such critical gorilla preserves as Virunga National Park, home to 11 distinct gorilla families.  

The fight to keep our families safe and healthy is something we can all relate to. It’s a feeling that Leah Peterson Sisler, Como’s CARES program coordinator, hopes will spark even greater empathy among visitors at Gorillas on the Line, a special conservation weekend slated for September 26 and 27, in honor of World Gorilla Day, and the arrival of Como Zoo’s two new gorillas, Nora and Kamba.  

“Trying to imagine, or to make your best assumption, about what another rational animal is going through is one of the first steps to understanding how connected we all are,” she says. “The more we respect the life around us, the more we realize that our actions have impact, and those impacts can be positive or negative depending on what we choose.”  

That philosophy is at the heart of Como’s new CARES initiative (short for connection, access, reach, engagement, and storytelling), an empathy-focused approach to public programs inspired by the growing body of research showing that commitment to global conservation often starts with caring for the animals we know. Some of that data has come from Como Park Zoo and Conservatory’s founding partnership with Advancing Conservation Through Empathy (ACE) for Wildlife, a learning network of AZA-accredited zoos, aquariums, and other institutions exploring effective practices for increasing the care and connections between zoo visitors and zoo animals.  

“The old theory was that simply sharing knowledge would be enough to inspire action, but what we’re coming to realize is that fostering meaningful emotional connections is just as  important. Having empathy for an animal builds the desire to act on their behalf,” says Como’s education and conservation curator, Bekah Hanes. “Empathy is a skill you can develop and build on, and it’s becoming an important tool to help people across the finish line,” from thinking about conservation to actually acting out those values, long after a zoo visit is over.

The shift is well underway in Como’s approach to conservation weekends, where Peterson Sisler has designed upcoming events to include everything from public “lunch and learn” sessions with Como Zoo’s expert keepers, to hands-on activities for young families, to on-site activation with external partners that are advancing the conservation mission in the wider community. 

For instance, at Gorillas on the Line, Como will be kicking off a year-long initiative to collect cell phones, smartwatches, and other small electronic devices for recycling with Ecocell. The nonprofit raises awareness about how the mining of coltan ore in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is disrupting gorilla habitats and threatening endangered populations. Coltan, a mineral used in most cell phones and small electronics, can be reclaimed through e-waste recycling, which lowers the demand for newly mined ore and prevents toxic waste from entering landfills. Ecocell, which has recycled over 155,000 phones to date, also donates the funds from cell phone recycling directly to gorilla conservation efforts. The goal of the conservation weekend, Peterson Sisler says, is to give visitors of all ages, learning styles, and levels of conservation awareness a variety of touch points “to connect local, personal actions to the more global picture of conservation.”

Far more than a curriculum refresh, Peterson Sisler says focusing on empathy is part of a fundamental shift in thinking about the role that zoos can play in promoting conservation behaviors, and protecting the environment. “I honestly think it’s revolutionary,” she says, adding that Como’s free admission, family-friendly programs, and high engagement with field trip groups make it a great place to activate the approach. “Como is uniquely positioned to be a thought leader in how to communicate about empathy and how to do empathy framing in its messaging and in its mission because it is a community zoo. At Como, the opportunity to be up close to individual animals, to hear their stories, know their names and life history, and learn about the natural history of species and the existential challenges to their wellbeing and survival…these are the things we do best.” 

Event Schedule

Mark your calendars for another conservation weekend coming soon, the AZA SAFE (Saving Animals from Extinction) bison conservation event happening December 5 and 6.

“It’s hard when you’ve been part of many important milestones in an animal’s life,” says Senior Keeper Jill Erzar, who has been organizing transfers for Como Zoo’s wolves, tigers, mountain lions, and snow leopards for several months, working closely with several AZA species survival plan groups to determine the optimal placement for each animal as well as the most promising breeding recommendations. While she and her colleagues are sad to see some of their favorite animals find new homes, Erzar says zookeepers are also looking forward to facilities that will elevate the animal care and husbandry they can provide behind the scenes.

Support from Como Friends has been critical to the development of the project’s design plans, which will allow Como Zoo to keep pace with the best-practice standards for big cat care, while protecting the intimate “nose-to-nose” visitor experience Como is known for. 

“This project is a great example of how private support allows Como to do more for our animals and public with state-of-the-art habitats,” says Katie Hill, Como Friends’ president. “Not only has Como Friends been at the table for all of these conversations, advocating for the features that can enhance animal wellbeing and visitor experience, but our diverse community of supporters also strengthens the case for public funding when we go to the Legislature. Our visitors take great pride in Como, and their voices were instrumental in helping secure funding to start to build ‘the Pride of Como’ for our lions and other African animals.”

One of the first tasks of the pre-construction process was to find a new home with just the right fit for Nicky and Cerberus, gray wolf brothers who first came to Como in 2021. “Most wolves you see at big zoos have been hand raised or habituated to humans, but we didn’t want that for them,” Erzar explains. “Instead, we wanted to show what a wild wolf looks like, and we chose that husbandry as the best for the wolves and for our facilities.” With that history in mind, she reached out to Wolf Haven International, a nonprofit animal sanctuary in Tenino, Washington, and learned they were interested in finding companions for two females. In June, the wolf pair boarded a chartered cross-country flight made possible by Greater Good Charities and were introduced to companions Billie and Ellie the same day—an important consideration for these social pack animals. “Nicky and Billie, by the end of the first night, were howling together, which is a great sign,” she says.

Large Cats Animal Care Team: Zookeepers Hans Jorgensen and Caitlin Allessi, and Senior Keeper Jill Erzar in the center. Pictured below are Dr. Jim Rasmussen, Dr. Carl Larson, and Veterinary Technician Andrea Persson

Maji the lion will soon be headed to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute where she’s been selected to be part of a breeding recommendation. Like Como, the National Zoo is one of the last free metropolitan zoos in the nation, but it was another feature that made the move attractive to Maji’s zookeepers. “The National Zoo is one of the only AZA zoos that doesn’t have glass-fronted enclosures for their lions,” Erzar says. “Maji and glass do not get along.”

Next up will be a move for Como Zoo tiger cubs Maks and Marisa. At age two, they’re both moving toward sexual maturity, and are being considered for breeding recommendations at other AZA accredited zoos. “Knowing that tigers are typically solitary animals, we knew that this day would come as they move toward having offspring,” Erzar says, noting that their mother, Bernadette, will remain at Como for the foreseeable future.

Keeping bonded pairs together is an important consideration for four of Como Zoo’s large cats. Snow leopards Alya and Willow will be moved together, allowing Alya to continue living with her daughter, who was born blind. Cougars Ruby and Jasper will also make the move as a pair. The two have been together as orphans at Como since 2018, and Jasper is now completely blind due to progressive retinal atrophy. For both pairs, maintaining these close bonds means each cat with impaired vision can remain with a familiar companion—someone they know and trust to help them navigate their new habitats.

Erzar admits that preparing for a construction project of this size can be stressful for both animals and the people who care for them. “It’s important that we take the time to truly understand what an animal’s needs are, and that comes down to really great zookeepers,” she says. “We excel in setting our animals up for success and building resilience into their everyday life, so that they can move on and breed and be great ambassadors wherever they go. It’s bittersweet to see them go, but this is why we do it, and our plans for the animals coming in will be just as intentional.”

The first half of the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory’s Fall Flower Show is stepping into the drama and folklore of magical plants, showcasing some unexpected choices alongside the show’s traditional mums. In the seasonal lead-up to Halloween, horticulturist Rylee Werden is taking her design inspiration from a mix of spooky and poisonous plants, medicinal herbs, and a little bit of moonglow. 

One area of the display features poisonous plants, like datura, or jimsonweed, and castor bean, which is used to make the powerful toxin, ricin. Another area reveals a moon garden, planted with white blooms and foliage that stand out at dusk and after dark. While it’s a natural theme for creating a Halloween vibe, Werden says the garden style is also good for the environment: “Moon gardens attract nighttime pollinators like moths.” She’s also shaping plantings into subtle moon phases, outlined with darker flowers that have tiny white or yellow centers, to create the effect of a starry night sky.

The most interactive space will be the kitchen witch’s garden, an aromatic herb plot meant to engage all the senses. “I’ve got parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, coriander, peppermint, lemon balm, and lavender and basil as well,” she says, adding that she hopes visitors will lean in for a little aromatherapy. 

The first half of the Fall Flower Show runs September 18 to October 18 only. Following a show change, part two of the Fall Flower Show will begin October 23, pairing traditional chrysanthemums with bonsai mums, Japanese maples, and Japanese Hakone grass. All of the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory’s five seasonal flower shows are free to the public, thanks to contributions from Como Friends supporters like you. Thank you!

The recent story in The Chronicle about Nicky and Cerberus finding a new home at Wolf Haven is a wonderful example of the thoughtful planning and collaboration that goes into caring for animals in accredited zoos.

Moving animals is a normal and important part of the Species Survival Plan (SSP), the cooperative program managed by accredited zoos and aquariums to ensure healthy, genetically diverse populations of animals in human care. Animals are regularly moved between accredited institutions for breeding recommendations, social compatibility, retirement, or to better meet their individual welfare needs.

In this case, as Como Zoo prepared to retire its wolf exhibit, staff worked well in advance to find the best possible home for Nicky and Cerberus. Their move to Wolf Haven allows them to remain together while providing companionship for resident wolves that had recently lost their partners.

“We were especially impressed by the level of care Wolf Haven put into preparing for Nicky and Cerberus’ arrival,” said Como Zoo Campus Director Erica Prosser. “Before Cerberus even arrived, Wolf Haven hired a nutritionist to review his medical and dietary history to ensure he would receive the best possible care from day one.

“Wolf Haven is widely recognized for its excellence. It is accredited by both the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries and the American Sanctuary Association and was honored with the 2024 Outstanding Wildlife Sanctuary Award, selected from more than 200 facilities. The organization is also a SAFE partner for both Mexican wolves and red wolves and has successfully helped return wolves to the wild through conservation and recovery efforts.

“Although we will miss seeing Nicky and Cerberus every day, we are grateful they have found such an exceptional new home. I also want to thank Senior Keeper Jill Erzar for orchestrating this move, along with our Animal Care and Veterinary teams and everyone else who helped make this transition possible. Their careful planning, collaboration, and dedication ensured the wolves had a safe and successful move to their new home.”

Relocating animals is also a normal part of preparing for future zoo improvements. Sometimes animals move to other accredited facilities before construction begins on exciting new habitats. These projects allow zoos like Como to modernize exhibits, enhance animal welfare, create opportunities for new species conservation programs, and provide an even better guest experience.

While we will all miss Cerberus and Nicky and their unique personalities, we couldn’t be happier that they have found such a wonderful new home at Wolf Haven, where they can continue to thrive together. At the same time, we’re excited for what lies ahead at Como Zoo. Their move marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter as we prepare for a future habitat that will welcome new species and continue advancing our mission of exceptional animal care, conservation, and inspiring connections with wildlife.

As Como Zoo begins finding new homes for the beloved animals currently living in our Large Cats habitat, these transitions will happen thoughtfully and over time. We know the Como Zoo staff, volunteers, and guests have formed special connections with these incredible animals, and we’ll share updates along the way so everyone has the opportunity to celebrate them and say goodbye before they begin their next adventures and milestones. Every move will be guided by the same careful planning, collaboration, and commitment to animal welfare that made Nicky and Cerberus’ journey such a success. We hope you’ll join us in celebrating each animal during their remaining time at Como Zoo and in wishing them the very best as they begin their next chapter.

Apprentices in animal care and horticulture are finding careers in conservation through Saint Paul’s flagship youth career development program

Dj Jones always wanted to be a zookeeper, and got an early start down that career path through Como’s teen volunteer Nature Walk program. While still in middle school, Jones gained valuable experience interpreting plants and animals for thousands of summer visitors, yet as they learned more about the traditional career trajectory toward becoming a zookeeper, they saw some serious roadblocks ahead. 

“Becoming a zookeeper is not easy,” says Jones, who started college at Miami University in Ohio before moving to the University of Minnesota. Not only are there a limited number of positions in the field and an endlessly renewing population of young animal lovers, zookeeping has become increasingly professionalized and competitive in recent years, requiring college degrees in zoology, biology, animal science, and other related fields. To stand out against the competition, prospective keepers are expected to have a series of internships and volunteer work on their resumes, accumulating as many as two or three years of hands-on animal care experience even before they get hired. For young people who need paying jobs to cover college and household costs, the path ahead can feel impossible. 

But thanks to the City of Saint Paul’s Right Track program, Jones has spent the last two years as a fully paid apprentice at Como Zoo, learning the ropes through a series of rotating assignments with professional mentors, while earning full-time pay in the process. “I have always understood that getting into this work would be a labor of love, with long hours on your feet and not great pay,” they say. “But this program has definitely made it more possible for me.”

Launched in 2014 as a partnership between the City of Saint Paul, the Saint Paul Public Schools, and the Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, Right Track has established a growing pipeline of career development opportunities for underserved Saint Paul youth. While Como has hosted interns for decades, Como Zoo launched its own Right Track partnership in 2022, inviting youth from cost-burdened homes or facing other barriers to employment to take part in paid apprenticeships and early career experiences in animal care. The program has been so effective at cultivating a diverse, next-generation workforce that the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory soon joined in, offering youth new experiences in horticultural operations as well.  

While the program is primarily funded by the City of Saint Paul, Como Friends has provided additional support over the years, for instance, providing grant money to help apprentices access the essential gear they need to succeed in their jobs, from campus uniforms to sturdy boots. That commitment grew in 2026 when Como Friends made the Right Track program a special focus of the Fund-a-Mission donation at the Sunset Affair gala on July 16. With cuts to federal funding that has supported Como’s apprentices, the goal is to match private contributions with funding from Minnesota’s Legacy Amendment to keep the successful program in place. 

“Investing in The Right Track program is really about investing in the future of Como, and making sure that we have a workforce that really reflects the diversity of the community we serve. These are dream jobs for youth who want to work with animals and plants, but there are significant structural barriers to getting hired in this field that the Right Track program helps young people overcome,” says Katie Hill, president of Como Friends. “That’s exactly the kind of work we believe is essential to support at Como Friends—nurturing the next generation in this field—and we hope our donors see that it’s a win-win for everyone. Como benefits from the support of these talented and motivated youth apprentices, while young people get the career boost they need to find meaningful jobs in conservation.”

Como’s historic Gates Ajar has a new theme grown right from the headlines

With more than 4,000 plants needed to create Como’s historic Gates Ajar mosaiculture every year, assistant gardener Marie Day usually has a strong idea about her design plans several months before the up-right garden feature makes its seasonal debut.

“What’s funny is that this is the first year I hadn’t selected a theme by fall,” she says. “I just couldn’t come up with anything.” Six months later, the answer was obvious: the “Rebel Loon,” the viral symbol of Minnesota’s community, character, and resilience that’s now seen on t-shirts, beer cans, and tattoos across the state. The image is so 2026, she says, “that even before I’d finished installing the outline of the loon, people were coming up to me, and were really excited about it. They understood exactly what it was.” 

A design motif originally created and shared by Moorhead’s Bernardo Anderson in January, the Rebel Loon is now fully installed on the left side of the Gates Ajar structure, located just east of Lexington Parkway. On the opposite side is a monarch butterfly, the powerful pollinator that makes one of the earth’s most epic migrations. Together, these two Minnesota icons have become instantly Instagrammable, inspiring many visitors who are discovering Gates Ajar for the first time.

“This is the first year where I’ve been hearing from people who are visiting the park just to see Gates Ajar,” says Day, who often spends a half hour or more every day just watering the structure. “The other day, I met a woman who had brought a friend visiting from the East Coast specifically to see it.”

No matter what the seasonal theme, Gates Ajar is a unique piece of Como history, and one of the oldest mosaiculture displays in the country. The installation was the brainchild of the St. Paul parks’ very first superintendent, Frederick Nussbaumer, a German landscape designer who honed his craft at London’s Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew before emigrating to the United States. At the turn of the 20th century, building topiary-like sculptures from plant material was the height of European flower fashion. But the flower display also has a distinctly Minnesota flavor, taking its name from “The Golden Legend,” an 1851 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, whose epic poem “Song of Hiawatha” was wildly popular with the Twin Cities’ early parks designers. 

Day says Gates Ajar typically reaches its peak in early August, when foundational plants like echeveria, hens and chicks, and Graptosedum, and trailing plants such as petunia and ivy are fully grown and beautifully integrated. “The public response to this one has been incredible,” Day says, adding how much it means to carry on a Como tradition that’s lasted more than 100 years. “It’s public art and it is for everybody, so it’s exciting to see how much it still resonates with people.”

Your support for Como Friends is helping Conservation Champions like EJ Smith rebuild endangered coral reefs in the Caribbean

As a kid, EJ Smith spent hours watching French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau take TV viewers under the sea, unveiling the extraordinary ecosystems that thrive under the surface of our oceans. Now as a life support specialist at Como Zoo, Smith says he’s living out a few of those childhood fantasies, caring for Como’s large collection of aquatic animals, while diving into conservation projects around the world. 

In fact, Smith is just back from a two-week conservation trip to Aruba, where Como Zoo is establishing a new Conservation Champions partnership with the ScubbleBubbles Foundation, an Aruba-based environmental nonprofit aimed at getting local youth interested in ocean conservation. Founded by Nichole Danser, a local teacher and passionate diver, ScubbleBubbles is looking at ways that Aruba communities can stem the loss of coral reefs by creating coral nurseries in new locations. Together, Smith and Danser plotted out a brand-new stretch of artificial reef the two organizations plan to start, just off the coast of Aruba’s De Palm Island. 

In a process similar to dividing and repotting plants, conservation groups like ScubbleBubbles are identifying coral types that are healthy and resistant to stress, and collecting small chunks to establish new colonies. “Corals grow at an incredibly slow pace, but these micro fragments are found to grow faster in small colonies, speeding up that process of coral growth,” says Smith, who learned about the process while supporting a similar coral recolonization project in the Caribbean last year. On this most recent trip, Smith spent his time mapping the reef site and working in ScubbleBubbles’ coral nurseries, where divers tend to dozens of coral “trees” representing nine different coral genotypes. 

Smith and Danser also came up with a name for the newest colony, Friends Reef. “We really wanted to make a statement about the roots of this partnership, so this is a way of highlighting the support we’ve got from Como Friends to make conservation work like this possible, the friendly partnership we have now with ScubbleBubbles, and then all of the little friends that live out on these reefs,” he says. “The name works on a lot of levels.”

Worldwide, coral reefs are facing mounting pressure from pollution, severe weather, overfishing, and weak enforcement of marine protections. While Aruba has been more insulated from hurricanes than many of its Caribbean neighbors, Smith says the ripple effects of collapsing coral reefs are real. Not only are healthy reefs critical to supporting fish populations, they’re just as important in supporting local economies, cultural traditions, and tourism. 

This fall, Como Life Support Operator Brittany Pedersen will continue work laying the foundation for Friends Reef, installing sturdy frames coated in epoxy and sand that give coral something to grab hold of and grow on. Future trips will focus on transplanting nursery-grown coral onto the new reef and assisting with research into accelerating coral growth, including studies on electrical stimulation underway at ScubbleBubbles’ new education space, the Coral Academy. If the project shows success, the goal is to share the learning with other coastal communities. “The idea is if your reefs are in trouble, we’ve got a footprint here that you can follow,” she says. 

Given the long life-cycle of coral, Smith says the partnership is not a quick fix. “When we’re talking about corals, we’re talking about colonies of animals that are very slow growing. These reefs aren’t created overnight, it takes millennia. This work is going to be generational.”  

And while Como is more than 2,000 miles away from the Caribbean, Smith believes this project is an important way to support Como Zoo’s conservation mission here at home: “This world’s much smaller than we think it is.”

A host of recent improvements at the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory made possible by Como Friends and the Manitou Fund are promoting plant health and elevating the visitor experience at the same time.

Finding time to renovate a busy space is a challenge familiar to many homeowners. But at the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory, one of Minnesota’s most visited destinations, scheduling repairs is a next-level headache, says horticultural supervisor Ariel Dressler.

“When we look at the calendar, we’re usually booked for weddings and other events every week of the year,” she says. But when her staff saw an opening emerging between the end of June and the 4th of July holiday, campus leaders quickly seized the opportunity to schedule some long-awaited repairs in the Sunken Garden, Como’s busiest and most beautiful room.

To make the most of the limited time available, Como coordinated with multiple contractors at once. “We had one contractor to do glass repair, another to repair the vent motor and arms, and then, because we had the whole room scaffolded, we knew it was a chance to do a deep cleaning on the star lights, and to update the wiring,” she says. With the whole room in a state of upheaval, it was also a great time to send the bronze statue Play Days off to conservators to make a small repair to one of the frog spouts.

While visitors are unlikely to notice many of these improvements when the Sunken Garden reopens on June 9, horticulturists are excited by the repairs, all part of a series of infrastructure improvements made possible, in part, by Como Friends over the past year.

Creating better ventilation within the Conservatory’s gardens and growing spaces has been a particular focus as rising temperatures put stress on plants—even those accustomed to tropical climates. In recent months, the Sunken Garden, the Fern Room, and the Orchid House have all seen substantial repairs to ventilation systems that are tied to the Conservatory’s Priva system, the computerized control network that allows staff to automate and monitor temperatures and airflow across rooms.

“We’ve been through a couple of really hot summers where a sunny day can generate temperatures of 100 degrees in our Conservatory rooms, so any window you can open is much appreciated,” Dressler says, noting that new exhaust fans are also on the way for the Fern Room. “It’s hard to keep ferns happy during heat waves, so this will be a big improvement.”

In a structure made entirely of glass, creating shade for plants that require it is also critical. This season, the Orchid House got a major shade upgrade that’s protecting plants from leaf bleaching and other problems that come from overexposure. In the greenhouse, the Conservatory has replaced shades in two growing bays with systems that allow for taller plants while helping to melt snow and ice from the greenhouse roof. A new blackout curtain also allows horticulturists to precisely control daylight hours for chrysanthemums grown for Como’s Fall Flower Show and poinsettias grown for the Holiday Flower Show. 

While visitors may never notice new glass panes, vents, and shades, Dressler says they may notice the impact of these improvements in the months ahead. “It may not seem that exciting to our guests, but to gardeners we know these investments are really going to help the foliage appearance and plant health overall,” she says.  

Thank you for your support in helping the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory’s plants and gardens thrive!

How to have your best summer ever at Como Park Zoo & Conservatory

High season is officially here at Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, with a calendar full of fun and fascinating public programs, free concerts, and face-to-face experiences you won’t want to miss. Whether you’ve got just an hour to drop in, or a full day to play, check out this roster of what’s happening and when to make the most of your summer days.

Special Programs

For Blaze Credit Union CEO Dan Stoltz, supporting Como Park Zoo & Conservatory is all about making Minnesotans’ lives better

Meeting Sparky the sea lion is a memory that connects Minnesotans of all ages. Ever since Archie Brand’s seal training show made its debut at Como Zoo in 1956, the splashy aquatics show has been a fixture at Como, evolving through seven decades (and seven different Sparkys) to reflect an ever-deepening understanding of the fierce intelligence, fascinating behavior, and natural adaptations that make marine mammals so amazing. 

As Sparky and all the inhabitants of Como Harbor get set to dive into Como Zoo’s busy spring and summer season, Como Friends talked with one of her biggest fans, Dan Stoltz, the CEO of Blaze Credit Union, the member-owned cooperative that’s been the corporate sponsor of the Blaze Sparky Show since 2022. 

Tell us your own Como story. Did you visit when you were a kid?

Como is a really special place for me. I have so many great memories of my mom and dad putting us kids in the car to visit Como Zoo, getting up close to the animals, having a family picnic on the grounds, and seeing the Sparky show, of course. Growing up on the East Side of St. Paul, Como was an affordable place where we could come and have an awesome day. Now I’m blessed to have 11 grandchildren and we still come here regularly. I love seeing it all through their eyes now.

How did you become a Como Friends supporter?

Being involved in the community is something that came from my upbringing, and the idea that life’s about giving, not getting. That’s something we believe in at Blaze, really leaning into organizations that are impactful and influential in our community. Through friends, my wife and I started coming to the Sunset Affair gala and getting to know more about what was happening here. The fact that Como is free is important to this community. But the fact that it’s free and a first-class organization is what’s really amazing. That’s why they need local businesses and corporations to step up and say, “We want to be part of that.” When the opportunity to support the Sparky the sea lion show came up, it was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made in my career. It was just a perfect marriage. 

Why was that? What about Como’s mission resonated so much with you?

Many companies have really long mission statements and value statements, but ours is two words: Better lives. Our core mission is not about making more money, it’s not about being the biggest, we just want to help make peoples’ lives better every day. That’s what Como Park Zoo & Conservatory does every day—it’s about bettering Minnesotans’ lives. You see it every time you visit, the diversity here, people of all ages, and from all walks of life, from the metro area, or from outside of it. Como just feels like a place that really pulls us all together. 

Corporate sponsorships are an obvious benefit for nonprofits like Como Friends, but how do they benefit businesses like yours? 

Putting on my CEO hat here for a second, we just feel like it’s a duty of organizations and businesses to give back to the communities that they serve. It is a pay-it-forward commitment, and so we as a company are always looking for organizations that are really making large impacts on people’s lives and Como Park Zoo & Conservatory checked all of those boxes. On the promotional side, we want Blaze to be seen investing visibly in things that matter, but that’s not because we expect an immediate return on investment. But I think there is a kind of respect that comes from the public when they see that your business is investing in the community and doing things for the right reasons. All generations care about this, but it seems to be especially true with the younger generation, who are looking to do business with companies that really care. 

Como is nearly 130 years old, and the Sparky the sea lion tradition goes back nearly 70 years. What do you think keeps people coming back? 

I think it’s that anyone can visit, any day, any time. In the economy right now, the two key words are volatility and uncertainty. But at Como, you can count on it. When you walk into the Zoo to see the animals, or visit the Conservatory to see the gardens, you just know it’s going to be a great experience.