If we can help people fall in love with our individual birds, then we can give them some very specific, easy things that they can do to support conservation. –Stephanie Ashley, Curator of Birds
Jim Shane
“If we can help people fall in love with our individual birds,” she explains, “then we can give them some very specific, easy things that they can do to support conservation.” The goal is for every visitor to leave seeing each raptor not as a symbol or a statistic, but as a living, thinking individual. That emotional connection is the seed. What grows from it—the behavior changes, the next generation of conservationists, the donations—is the harvest. Stephanie’s influence has also extended well beyond Boise. When TPF’s Ridgway’s Hawk Program in the Dominican Republic needed support for their growing ambassador bird program, Stephanie traveled there to consult on training, care, and program management, helping empower a team doing remarkable work to continue moving forward. It’s the kind of quiet, unglamorous leadership that rarely makes headlines but shapes everything. Stephanie Ashley is building something that will outlast any single bird or any single visit: a culture of care, rigor, and genuine connection that reflects the best of what TPF stands for. Looking ahead, Stephanie sees the Education Center continuing to grow: more birds, stronger programs, and a deepening investment in the conservation leaders who will carry the work forward. Change, she has learned, comes slowly. But the distance covered is unmistakable.
Carlos Suárez
Carlos Suárez
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