GALA 2022 | Wildlife Conservation Society
HONORING
Jeff Bezos
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Festivities begin at 6:30 PM
Central Park Zoo
Fifth Avenue at 64th Street
The Gala takes place outdoors within the spectacular zoo setting
WCS: WE STAND FOR WILDLIFE
WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. We envision a world where wildlife thrives in healthy lands and seas, valued by societies that embrace and benefit from the diversity and integrity of life on earth.
We stand for wildlife. Join us.
ABOUT THE EVENT
On Tuesday, June 7, 2022, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) will host its annual Gala at the Central Park Zoo. The evening will celebrate WCS’s impact on the planet’s most ecologically important wild places and the extraordinary species that call them home. Unlike any other event in New York City, the Gala takes place outdoors within the spectacular zoo setting under the stars.
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Forests are massive carbon sinks for the planet, keeping billions of tons of C02 out of the atmosphere. Saving forests can provide nearly one-third of the action we need by 2030 to maintain the fight against climate change. WCS is working to stop the loss of intact forests, including by accelerating and scaling up protections in the world’s most important intact forests in the Amazon Basin, Congo Basin, North American Boreal, North Eurasian Boreal, and Southeast Asian Archipelago. -
Human, animal, and environmental health are intrinsically connected and profoundly influenced by human activities, as the Covid-19 pandemic made us all acutely aware. With the largest international team dedicated to disease surveillance, rapid response, local training, and wildlife health of any conservation organization, WCS is hard at work responding to this global crisis and helping reduce the risk of future disease outbreaks. -
Defending nature’s strongholds—the world’s remaining areas of protected wilderness is our best hope for ensuring the survival of wildlife and ecosystems. Over the past 125 years, WCS has helped create or expand hundreds of protected areas across land and sea, and we are scaling up efforts to make sure Earth’s most important strongholds for biodiversity are equipped to withstand escalating pressures. -
The ocean provides half of our atmosphere’s oxygen, feeds over a billion people, and facilitates 90 percent of global trade. But today, overfishing and the loss of top ocean predators threaten local communities, global economies, and human survival. WCS’s marine program covers the waters of 23 countries, and is designed to safeguard global coral species, reverse the decline of sharks and rays, and steward the recovery of marine mammals. -
As the world’s premier wildlife conservation organization, WCS has 125 years of experience in successfully saving endangered species. Stable and recovering animal populations, reductions in poaching, and stronger international wildlife protections all prove that our efforts are working. -
As the first zoological organization in the world to promote wildlife conservation, WCS’s Bronx Zoo helped save bison from extinction more than a century ago. Today, we are working to restore free-ranging bison populations across their historic North American range through partnerships with Indigenous Peoples, accredited zoos, and others. -
WCS’s New York City wildlife parks promote lifelong connections between people and nature while advancing conservation of species in the wild. Our four zoos—the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, and Prospect Park Zoo—and our New York Aquarium comprise the world’s largest network of urban wildlife parks and welcome more than 3 million guests a year. -
Across the Amazon-Andes region, WCS is supporting Indigenous Peoples such as these fishers in Bolivia who are building a canoe for the traditional and sustainable practices that maintain their food security. -
The Congo Basin is Earth’s largest tropical net carbon sink and Africa’s most biodiverse region. That is why WCS is winning stronger protections for its highly intact forests and iconic species such as the mountain gorilla, forest elephant, and okapi. The Ndoki-Likouala Stronghold, shown here, is one of the rare places Africa where elephant and ape populations have stabilized or risen in the past 15 years.
HONOREE
Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com in 1994. Amazon’s mission is to be Earth’s most customer-centric company. In 2019, under Bezos’ leadership, Amazon and Global Optimism co-founded The Climate Pledge, a commitment for companies to achieve net-zero carbon by 2040—with 300+ signatories to date and counting. In 2020, Bezos founded the Bezos Earth Fund, a $10 billion commitment to fund scientists, activists, NGOs, and others to drive climate and nature solutions in this decisive decade. Funds will be fully allocated by 2030, the date by which the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals must be achieved. He also founded the Bezos Day One Fund to provide grants to nonprofits to help homeless families and is creating a network of preschools in low-income communities.
Bezos is also the founder of aerospace company Blue Origin, which is working on the long-term goal of moving all polluting and heavy industry off Earth to preserve the planet. He is the owner of the Washington Post. Bezos graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa in electrical engineering and computer science from Princeton University in 1986 and was named TIME magazine’s Person of the Year in 1999.
Leadership
Co-Chairs
Elizabeth and Lee Ainslie
Barbara and Duncan Chapman
Laura and Peter Grauer
Diane and Andreas Halvorsen
John and Jeanet Irwin
Mary and Howdy Phipps
Alejandro and Charlotte Santo Domingo
Kitty and Stephen Sherrill
Loretta and Chris Stadler
Allison and Leonard Stern
Ann and Andrew Tisch
Ward and Priscilla Woods
Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang
Don and Barbara Zucker
Vice Chairs
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Eleanor Briggs
The Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation, Inc.
Judy and Jamie Dimon
Katie and Peter Dolan
Antonia and George Grumbach, Jr.
Gillian Hearst
Sonia and Paul Jones
Mary and John LaMattina
Terry and Bob Lindsay
Makena Capital Management
Lisa and David T Schiff
David B “Scott” Schiff
Coty Sidnam
WCS BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Elected Trustees
Elizabeth Ainslie
Frederick W. Beinecke
Rosina M. Bierbaum
Duncan A. Chapman
Rudolph F. Crew
Katherine L. Dolan
Gordon E. Dyal
Thomas J. Edelman
Christopher J. Elliman
Paul A. Gould
Peter T. Grauer
Jonathan D. Green
Antonia M. Grumbach
O. Andreas Halvorsen
Judith H. Hamilton
John N. Irwin III
Hamilton E. James
Julia Marton-Lefèvre
David J. Millstone
Ambrose K. Monell
Adebayo O. Ogunlesi
Alejandro Santo Domingo
Juan Manuel Santos
David B "Scott" Schiff
Walter C. Sedgwick
Katherine Sherrill
Caroline N. Sidnam
Loretta M. Stadler
Andrew H. Tisch
Roselinde Torres
Marcel van Poecke
Akiko Yamazaki
Robert B. Zoellick
Life Trustees
C. Diane Christensen
Howard Phipps, Jr., Chair Emeritus
Julian Robertson
David T Schiff, Chair Emeritus
Mrs. Leonard N. Stern
Ward W. Woods, Chair Emeritus
Barbara Hrbek Zucker
Trustees Emeriti
Eleanor Briggs
Jonathan L. Cohen
Bradley L. Goldberg
Brian J. Heidtke
TABLES
Please respond by May 24 to be listed on the evening program.
$1,950 of each Gala Table at the $10,000 level and above is non-deductible. $195 of each seat at a $5,000 Guardian Gala Table is non-deductible.
Contributions are tax-deductible as provided by law.
COVID-19 Warning: An inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. In accordance with New York State and CDC guidance, unvaccinated people continue to be responsible for wearing masks at WCS facilities. By visiting WCS facilities, you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19.
* Under federal tax rules, certain restrictions apply to the purchase of gala tickets and tables by donor-advised funds (DAFs) and private foundations.
Please contact your tax advisor or your DAF’s sponsoring organization for more details.
past gala photos
Past Galas
WCS GALA: WE STAND FOR WILDLIFE
Contact
For more information, please contact:
Elizabeth Benham
2300 Southern Boulevard
Bronx, NY 10460
Phone: 718 741 1616
gala@wcs.org
Mission
WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature.
Vision
WCS envisions a world where wildlife thrives in healthy lands and seas, valued by societies that embrace and benefit from the diversity and integrity of life on earth.
Photo Credits: Mountain toucan by ⒸNeil Bowman/Alamy; © WCS Mozambique; © Kalyan Varma; © Frank af Petersens; © Paul Hilton for WCS; ©Rob Wallace/WCS;©Scott Ramsay/WCS; © BFA; Patrick McMullan/PMc.©Patrick McMullan; Julie Larsen Maher © WCS; Jillian Nelson/AnnieWatt.com; © InFocusNYC
© 2022 Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York 10460 • 718 741 1616 • Terms of Use | wcs.org
GALA TABLES & TICKETS
Please respond by March 12 to be listed on the invitation.
Gifts of $25,000 and above will be listed as a Vice Chair.
Contributions are tax-deductible as provided by law. $1,950/$195 of each Gala Table/Ticket is non-deductible.
* Under federal tax rules, certain restrictions apply to the purchase of gala tickets and tables by donor-advised funds (DAFs) and private foundations.
Please contact your tax advisor or your DAF’s sponsoring organization for more details.