PRESS ROOM

ROYAL OAK, Mich., 

ROYAL OAK, Mich. – The Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) has been selected to take part in a year-long fellowship through the Cultural Competence Learning Institute, an initiative of children’s museums and science centers working to advance diversity and inclusion in their staffs, programs and audiences.

As part of the fellowship, the DZS will develop a comprehensive master plan to advance its diversity and inclusion initiatives. The master plan will encompass the organization’s diversity policies – the degree to which the staff and volunteers represent the different aspects of human diversity that exist in the community – as well as inclusion in its hiring practices, programs, interactions with guests and community outreach.

“Just as we value, are committed to and celebrate biodiversity, we value and have a long-term commitment to understanding and celebrating the diversity of our human community,” said DZS executive director and CEO Ron Kagan.

Since 2009, the DZS has partnered with the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion on staff training. In 2015, the organization received the Excellence in Diversity Award for the Inclusive Experience from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), recognizing achievement in workforce and audience diversity among the 230 AZA-member institutions. The DZS was honored for an education program developed for Detroit Zoo guests on the autism spectrum.