Page 11 - Gateways_Winter_2021-2022-flip_Neat

Behind the Scenes:
STAFF Meet a Brookfield Zoo Staff Member

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Brookfield Zoo’s fascinating staff members. .
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Meet Hina Sowinski, operations manager for the Volunteer Engagement a and enter them into an Excel spreadsheet. In about 2012, we installed
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department. The program is celebrating its 50 anniversary this year. r . t the Volgistics [software] system. Volunteers go to a keypad and pick
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an assignment and how many hours they volunteered. Those numbers
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How long have you worked at Brookfield Zoo? 14 years. I started
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as a volunteer coordinator. . get tallied up by Volgistics. It saves staff time. .
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What kind of background does someone in your position need?
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What does a typical day look like? It’s very different every day
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d e p e n d i n g o n w h i c h e v e n t s a r e h a p p e n i n g i n t h e p a r k . I t n e v e r g e t s You need to be calm and poised. Every day is different and flexibility
depending on which events are happening in the park. It never gets
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boring! I typically work from Saturday to Wednesday, but flexibility is key. You need to be trustworthy and respectful and be able to work
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i is key—I have to be able to show up for an event or if a group is w it h p e o p l e a n d b u i ld r e l a t i o n s h i p s . Y o u m u s t b e a b l e t o m o t i v a t e
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What are your job responsibilities? I directly supervise
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approximately 150 volunteers who serve as guest guides and assist
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with special projects and events. I look at the talents the volunteers
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bring and help staff projects that are required by different departments. .
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I manage a group of special events volunteers who help out during
I m a n a g e a g r o u p o f s p e c i a l e v e n t s v o l u n t e e r s w h o h e l p o u t d u r i n g
events like ZooBrew, ZooRun, and Holiday Magic®. I’ve worked with
e v e n t s l i k e Z o o B r e w , Z o o R u n , a n d H o l i d a y M a g i c ® . I ’ v e w o r k e d w it h
.
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our Development team to organize corporate volunteering at the zoo.
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I do all the technical portions of the onboarding process. I provide
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our on-line scheduling and training functions.
W h o a r e t h e v o l u nt e e r s ? T h e y c o m e f r o m a l l w a l k s o f l i f e a n d h a v e
Who are the volunteers? They come from all walks of life and have
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different skill sets. We have teachers, college professors, lawyers, all sorts
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of career paths. Many people are retired and we have folks who have
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full-time careers and families but want to give back to the zoo.
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skills. They have to be 18 and over; our oldest volunteer just turned 101. .
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because they are so committed to the institution and our mission. .
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people—someone may not want to do a particular task, so how
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H o w d id t h e C O VI D - 1 9 p a nde mi c i mp a c t y ou r job ? T h e m a j o r it y d o y o u g e t t h e m t o d o it ? Y o u a l s o h a v e t o b e p a s s i o n a t e t o g e t
How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact your job? The majority
do you get them to do it? You also have to be passionate to get
of our 400 volunteers remained off-site for nearly 18 months during
o f o u r 4 0 0 v o l u n t e e r s r e m a i n e d o ff - s it e f o r n e a r l y 1 8 m o n t h s d u r i n g p e o p l e w h o a r e v o l u n t e e r i n g f o r f r e e t o c o n t i n u e t o g i v e t h e i r t i m e
people who are volunteering for free to continue to give their time
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t the pandemic. This year, 220 docents and guest guides have returned a and be energetic. .
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on-site to serve guests. To ensure all on-site volunteers were well l Wh a t do y ou do wh e n y ou ’ re n ot a t w or k ?
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What do you do when you’re not at work?
prepared to serve our guests, we transitioned to on-line training,
p r e p a r e d t o s e r v e o u r g u e s t s, w e t r a n s it i o n e d t o o n - l i n e t r a i n i n g , I e n j o y c o o k i n g a n d l i k e t o h o s t p e o p l e . M y k i d s k e e p m e b u s y . I g e t
I enjoy cooking and like to host people. My kids keep me busy. I get
in cl u d in g C O V ID s a fe t y t r a inin g . M y j o b in cl u d e d d e s i g nin g t h e m a n y involved with my kids’ activities—Girl Scout cookie sales, school PTO. .
including COVID safety training. My job included designing the many
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technical processes and functions necessary to successfully onboard We do a lot of biking and explore different forest preserves.
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What accomplishment are you most proud of? Getting our
W h a t a c c o m p l i s h m e nt a r e y o u m o s t p r o u d o f ? G et ti n g o u r
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400 volunteers transitioned from paper to utilizing the computer
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was a huge success on my end. When I started in 2007, each volunteer
w a s a h u g e s u c c e s s o n m y e n d . W h e n I s t a r t e d i n 2 0 0 7 , e a c h v o l u n t e e r
wrote down how many hours they volunteered for each assignment on
w r o t e d o w n h o w m a n y h o u r s t h e y v o l u n t e e r e d f o r e a c h a s s i g n m e n t o n
a piece of paper. A staff person had to tally each of those numbers up
a p ie c e o f p a p e r . A s t a ff p e r s o n h a d t o t a l l y e a c h o f t h o s e n u m b e r s u p
BROOKFIELD ZOO | WINTER 2021/22 11