GALA | Wildlife Conservation Society

HONORING
Cristián Samper

Thursday, June 12, 2025

Festivities Begin 6:30 PM

Central Park Zoo
Fifth Avenue at 64th Street

Cocktail Attire

Online sales are now closed. For more information about purchasing tables or tickets, email gala@wcs.org.

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. Stand with us.

ABOUT THE EVENT

On Thursday, June 12, 2025, 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 a spectacular zoo setting under the stars.

Protecting Nature’s Strongholds

Nature’s Strongholds are areas that are high in ecological value and integrity—and they are our best hope for ensuring that animals and people can thrive. WCS has helped create more than 360 protected areas around the world, and we are scaling up efforts to make sure Earth’s most important biodiversity strongholds are equipped to withstand escalating pressures.

Advancing Nature-Based Climate Solutions

Forests are massive carbon sinks for the planet, keeping billions of tons of planet-warming CO2 out of the atmosphere. Nature-based solutions like protecting forests can provide nearly one-third of the action we need by 2030 to maintain the fight against climate change. WCS is safeguarding high-integrity forests, peatlands, and grasslands in 55+ countries.

Safeguarding Our Oceans

Safeguarding Our Ocean

WCS protects the waters of 26 countries, helping to conserve coral reefs, reverse the decline of sharks and rays, and steward the recovery of marine mammals. WCS’s goal is to secure 1 million square kilometers of new protected areas in coastal seas by 2030.

Saving At-Risk Species

As the world’s premier wildlife conservation organization, WCS has more than a century of success saving endangered species. Stable and recovering animal populations where we work, along with robust new international wildlife protections, demonstrate that our efforts are making a difference.

Protecting Peatlands

Spanning just 3 percent of the Earth’s land surface, peatlands store more carbon than all the world’s forests combined. WCS is stepping up protections for the world’s carbon-rich peatlands and elevating them on the global agenda as vital carbon sinks. We seek to protect the ecological integrity of 500,000 square kilometers of the world’s remaining intact peatlands by 2030.

Connecting People to Wildlife

WCS’s New York City wildlife parks promote lifelong connections between people and nature. 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.

Partnering with Communities on Conservation

WCS collaborates with around 440 local partner organizations around the world to protect high-integrity landscapes and seascapes. Our goal is to help local communities win rights and resources to steward their lands and waters. In Papua New Guinea, for example, WCS helped communities design and create two new marine protected areas, which tripled marine protections nationally.

HOnoree

Cristián Samper

Dr. Cristián Samper is a conservation biologist and preeminent environmental policy leader who has dedicated his career to studying nature and building a nature-positive, carbon-neutral future.

Samper served as President & Chief Executive Officer of WCS from 2012–2022, and under his leadership we:

Built a global network of Nature’s Strongholds with more than 150 protected areas spanning 3.75 million square kilometers on land and sea
Created the world’s leading program to counter the illegal wildlife trade, including the successful 96 Elephants campaign to stop the killing and trafficking of elephants, and help reduce the demand for ivory
Provided tens of millions of visitors a window into the natural world by opening 12 new exhibits, including the Donald Zucker and Barbara Hrbek Zucker Ocean Wonders: Sharks! exhibit at the New York Aquarium
Raised more than $2 billion in public and private funding to advance our mission
Helped develop, adopt, and roll out: the 30×30 goal of protecting 30 percent of the planet by 2030 (30×30); nature-based solutions to the climate crisis; and the One Health approach to preventing future zoonotic pandemics

Samper now serves as the Managing Director and Leader for Nature Solutions at the Bezos Earth Fund, overseeing all its work related to the protection and restoration of nature, as well as the transformation of food systems. He helped the Bezos Earth Fund design and launch the Protecting Our Planet Challenge, a coalition of 11 foundations that are investing $5 billion to support the implementation of 30×30 globally.

Prior to joining WCS, Samper was Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History from 2003–2012, and in 1995 was founding Director of Colombia’s Alexander von Humboldt Biodiversity Institute. A biologist from the Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia with a PhD from Harvard University, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; he has served on many influential foundation and nonprofit boards. Samper was raised in Colombia; he now lives in New York.

Leadership

Co-Chairs

Elizabeth and Lee Ainslie
Judy and Jamie Dimon
Katie and Peter Dolan
Diana and Joe Dowling
Laura and Peter Grauer
Antonia and George Grumbach
Diane and Andreas Halvorsen
Judith Hamilton
John and Jeanet Irwin on behalf of Hillside Capital Incorporated
Howdy Phipps
Charlotte and Alejandro Santo Domingo
Lisa and David T Schiff
David B “Scott” Schiff
Kitty and Stephen Sherrill
Coty Sidnam
Loretta Stadler
Allison and Leonard Stern
Priscilla and Ward Woods
Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang
Don and Barbara Zucker

WCS BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Robert G. Menzi
Interim President and CEO

Alejandro Santo Domingo
Chair

Elizabeth M. Ainslie
Vice Chair

Christopher J. Elliman
Vice Chair

Thomas J. Edelman
Treasurer

Loretta M. Stadler
Secretary

Elected Trustees

Elizabeth M. Ainslie
Neil Barr
Rosina M. Bierbaum
Duncan A. Chapman
Katherine L. Dolan
Thomas J. Edelman
Christopher J. Elliman
Paul A. Gould
Peter T. Grauer
Jonathan D. Green
Antonia M. Grumbach
O. Andreas Halvorsen
Judith H. Hamilton
Jan Hatzius
John N. Irwin III

Trevor Kempner
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
Marcel van Poecke
Akiko Yamazaki
Robert B. Zoellick

Life Trustees

C. Diane Christensen
Howard Phipps, Jr., Chair Emeritus
David T Schiff, Chair Emeritus
Mrs. Leonard N. Stern
Ward W. Woods, Chair Emeritus
Barbara Hrbek Zucker

Trustees Emeriti

Frederick W. Beinecke
Eleanor Briggs
Gordon E. Dyal
Bradley L. Goldberg
Brian J. Heidtke
Hamilton E. James

Tables & Tickets

Online sales are now closed. For information about purchasing tables or tickets, please email gala@wcs.org.

Tables & Tickets

$100,000 Conservator Table

$50,000 Partner Table

$25,000 Benefactor Table

$15,000 Protector Table

$10,000 Advocate Table

$5,000 Guardian Table

$1,500 Supporter Ticket

$2,250 of each Gala Table at the $10,000 level and above is non-deductible.
$225 of each seat at a $5,000 Guardian Gala Table is non-deductible.
$225 of each $1,500 Supporter Ticket is non-deductible.
Contributions are tax-deductible as provided by law.

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.

Please Note: Persons attending the Gala may be photographed or filmed at times throughout the event and the recordings may be distributed.

MAKE A CONTRIBUTION

past gala Moments

Contact

For more information, please contact:
Elizabeth Benham
2300 Southern Boulevard
Bronx, NY 10460
Phone: 718 741 1616
gala@wcs.org

Learn more about the Wildlife Conservation Society

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: ©Guenter Guni; ©Scott Ramsay/WCS; ©Marcos Amend/WCS; ©Mailen Palma; ©Seth Brogan; ©Nicole Püschel; Julie Larsen ©WCS; © Elodie Van Lierde/WCS; ©BFA; Patrick McMullan/PMc. © Patrick McMullan; Jillian Nelson/AnnieWatt.com; Terria Clay ©WCS; ©InFocusNYC