FZS in the United States of America

Frankfurt Zoological Society – U.S. is a non-profit 501c3 organization founded in 2007 by American friends and supporters of the Frankfurt Zoological Society. The organization is dedicated to protecting biodiversity and wilderness in some of the world’s last wild places.

Around the globe, few truly wild areas are left and many of them will be eroded and destroyed by human encroachment in the next decade without adequate protection. Often existing laws will not guarantee their integrity and many of these areas are “paper parks” with minimal law enforcement or effective management.

Frankfurt Zoological Society – U.S. seeks out these refuges and subjects them to a rigorous selection process to determine whether they fit into the organization’s mission and goals. Specific criteria include high biodiversity, area size, and wilderness. Once chosen, the organization commits long-term, in some cases more than 60 years, partnering with local conservation authorities to provide management support, financial resources, and technical advice. Currently, the organization supports projects in Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Ukraine, and Indonesia.

Dr. Peyton West

Executive Director of Frankfurt Zoological Society – U.S.

Mailing address:
1050 30th St NW
Washington, DC 20007
USA

Legal address:
3810 Argyle Terrace NW
Washington, DC 20011
USA

Phone: (202) 650-5525

Send an email

Mission

The mission of Frankfurt Zoological Society – U.S. is to conserve wildlife and ecosystems focusing on protected areas and outstanding wild places.

Frankfurt Zoological Society – U.S. main purpose is the conservation of wilderness and biodiversity worldwide. Frankfurt Zoological Society – U.S. also seeks to enhance the general public’s understanding of the importance of wildlife conservation and the appreciation of nature’s diversity on our planet.

Vision

Frankfurt Zoological Society – U.S. envisions a world where wildlife and wild places are cherished and conserved in recognition of both their intrinsic worth and economic importance for present and future generations.

Frankfurt Zoological Society – U.S. focuses on the most significant ecosystems on our planet, and works topreserve wildnerness and biological diversity on earth not only for human beings, but also as an end in themselves. We recognize that humans are both the source of environmental problems and the key to their solution.

Supported Projects

The FZS-US Team

Executive Director - Dr. Peyton West

Dr. Peyton West is the Executive Director of FZS-US and serves as Secretary and Treasurer of the Board. She is also the co-chair of the FZS Global Steering Committee. Previously, she was the Senior Project Director at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)’s Center of Science, Policy and Society Programs, and a curatorial fellow in the Mammal Department at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo. She has also consulted for the Bell Museum of Natural History and the television show “Go Diego Go.” She obtained her BA from Yale and her Ph.D. with the Serengeti Lion Project at the University of Minnesota, studying the function of the lion’s mane in Tanzania and Kenya.

President of the Board - Dr. Christof Schenck

Dr. Christof Schenck is the President of the Board and Executive Director of the Frankfurt Zoological Society based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Previously he led FZS’s Giant Otter Project in Peru, and was the scientific assistant to the Frankfurt Zoological Society’s acting president. As FZS’s Executive Director he oversees conservation projects in 18 countries around the world and serves on numerous boards. He is also a member of the IUCN’s Otter Specialist Group.

Vice President of the Board - Dr. Andy Dobson

Dr. Andy Dobson is the Vice President of the Board and a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University. His research is concerned with the ecology of wildlife diseases (particularly zoonosis), their interaction with the social systems of carnivores and primates, and the conservation of biodiversity. He has studied infectious diseases in the Serengeti in East Africa, Yellowstone National Park in the US, the forests of Panama, and the coastal salt marshes and grasslands of California. He is an associated faculty member at the High Meadows Environmental Institute and the Santa Fe Institute.

Matt Arnold

Matt Arnold is the Global Head, Impact Finance & Markets at The Nature Conservancy (TNC). He oversees TNC’s NatureVest, Corporate Engagement, and Carbon Markets teams, collectively working to deliver impactful conservation outcomes to achieve TNC’s 2030 goals. Prior to joining TNC, Matt was Head of Impact and Sustainable Finance at JPMorgan Chase, advising JPMorgan and its clients on ESG and sustainability strategy. Previously, Matt founded Sustainable Finance Ltd. (acquired by PwC) and served as Program Director and Chief Operating Officer for the World Resources Institute.

Enrique Ortiz

Enrique Ortiz is the Senior Program Director of the Andes Amazon Fund and a tropical ecologist born and raised in Peru. He co-founded the Andes-Amazon Initiative at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Amazon Conservation Association among others. He has worked in US philanthropic foundations for the last 25 years and been directly involved in the creation and implementation of over 20 million hectares of protected areas in the tropics. Enrique currently serves as President of the Board of the Association for the Conservation of the Amazon Basin, and he was previously a Board member of Peru’s National Protected Area Service among other positions in the conservation field. He holds degrees from San Marcos University and Princeton University.

Curtis Ravenel

Curtis Ravenel is a Senior Advisor to the Co-Chairs and Vice-Chair of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) and a founding member of the Secretariat for the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). He also serves as a Distinguished Fellow in Sustainable Finance at ClimateWorks Foundation and as a Strategic Advisor to Context Labs BV and Persefoni. From 2019-2020 he was seconded to the UK Treasury as Senior Advisor to former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, COP26 Finance Advisor to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and UN Special Envoy for Climate Finance. Curtis was Global Head of Sustainability at Bloomberg, L.P. from 2007-2019.

Jason Scott

Jason Scott is the Co-Chair, CREO Syndicate and Managing Director, Renewable Resource Group, a Los Angeles-based asset manager focused on sustainable agriculture, water resources, renewables and other natural resources. He previously co-founded and is on the board of directors of Encourage Capital. Prior to EKO, Jason was a founding Director at Generation Investment Management, co-founded by David Blood and former Vice President Al Gore, Jr. From 1999 to 2004, Jason worked with Acumen Fund, Flatiron Future Fund/Foundation and New Philanthropy Capital, and he helped found and build national service non-profit Public Allies.

Heather Zichal

Heather Zichalis the Global Head of Sustainability at JP Morgan Chase. Previously, she served as CEO of the American Clean Power Association (ACP), a renewable energy industry trade group, and as Executive Director of the Blue Prosperity Coalition, working to advance sustainable, blue economy goals. Prior to that, she was Vice President of Corporate Engagement for The Nature Conservancy. In government, she served as Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change in the Obama Administration, where she coordinated the administration’s energy and climate policy.

Non-Discrimination Policy
FZS-US Notice of Non-Discrimination and Non-Retaliation

Financial Documents
FZS-US 2022 990
FZS-US 2022 Audited Financial Statements
Prior year financial documents are available by request

Contact

Zoologische Gesellschaft Frankfurt von 1858 e.V.
Bernhard-Grzimek-Allee 1
60316 Frankfurt

Telephone: +49 (0)69 - 94 34 46 0
Fax: +49 (0)69 - 43 93 48
E-Mail

You will find our office in the Zoogesellschaftshaus (1st floor).
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