The Chattanooga Zoo is owned by the City of Chattanooga and is managed by Friends of the Zoo, Inc. – a 501 (c) (3) organization.

Executive Committee
  • Bob Stewart, President
  • Andy Stone, Vice President
  • Niraj Shah, Secretary
  • William Decosimo, Treasurer
Board of Directors
  • Andy Stone
  • Bob Stewart
  • Chris Anderson
  • Chanda Chambers
  • Arie Veltenaar
  • Tom Eddy
  • William Decosimo
  • Shirley Krause
  • Karla McKamey
  • Kristy Donoho
  • Jay Robinson
  • Niraj Shah
  • Pete Lapina (ex-officio member)
  • Sharon Brooks (ex-officio member)
Founders Circle
  • Pete Serodino
  • Dr. Mickey Myers
  • Doug Warner
  • Tom Donovan
  • Gary Chazen
  • Mimi Warner Iverson
  • Dr. Richard Krause (deceased)
  • Joe Johnson
  • Sonia Young (deceased)
Staff

Darde Long

PRESIDENT AND CEO 423.697.1322

Lisa Craig

DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES 423.697.1322 ext. 5708

Lacey Hickle

GENERAL CURATOR 423.697-1322 ext. 5719

Chris Houser

DIRECTOR OF EXHIBITS & MAINTENANCE 423.697.1322 ext. 5702

Donna Deweese

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT 423.697.1322 ext. 5703

Heather Bateman

Volunteer & Intern Manager 423.697.1322 ext 5711

General Questions

Donation Requests

The Chattanooga Zoo is always happy to support the fundraising efforts of our local community. If you are a 501c3 organization located within 50 miles of the Chattanooga Zoo, we welcome you to apply for a donation to your cause. The Zoo donates 4 general admission tickets to donation requests we deem worthy of our donation. Each month we will accept at most 50 requests. Once that limit of 50 has been reached each month, we will not send out any others that month. Applicants will be notified if they apply after the limit of 50 has been reached so they can try again the next month if possible. We will send tickets out via email within 5-7 business days of accepting a request.