Celebrating 130 Years—Together

For 130 years, Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance has been a place where people and wildlife connect.  What began as a small zoo has grown into a conservation alliance with global impact—
shaped by generations of guests, members, donors, and the community that continues to show up. 

Celebrating 130 Years—Together is a summer-long celebration of that shared journey. 

It honors the milestones that brought us here, the animals and people who inspire us every day, and the collective commitment that will guide the next chapter of conservation. This summer, every visit, every moment, and every experience is part of our celebration—because this milestone belongs to all of us.

As the Creative Manager at Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance, I led the creative development of the organization's 130th Anniversary campaign, a summer-long celebration designed to honor the Zoo's legacy while inspiring deeper community connection and repeat visitation.

The challenge was balancing history with relevance. While milestone anniversaries often lean heavily on nostalgia, audience research revealed that guests weren't returning simply because of the animals. They were returning because of tradition, shared memories, and the emotional connection they felt to the Zoo. Rather than creating a retrospective campaign, I developed the strategic and creative platform "Celebrating 130 Years, Together," positioning the anniversary as a community-wide celebration that belonged to guests, members, donors, staff, and supporters alike.

From initial concept development through execution, I established the campaign's creative vision, messaging framework, directed the visual identity system, and implementation guidelines. The platform was intentionally designed to be flexible enough to support everything from environmental graphics and digital campaigns to animal birthday celebrations, live entertainment, photo opportunities, and guest activations across campus.

A key focus of the work was creating consistency across a highly cross-functional initiative. I partnered closely with Marketing, Guest Experience, Events, and Executive Leadership teams to align dozens of touchpoints under a unified creative system while ensuring the campaign remained welcoming, accessible, and firmly rooted in Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance's conservation mission.

The result was a scalable campaign platform that transformed a traditional anniversary milestone into an immersive, guest-centered experience, helping reinforce the Zoo's role as both a beloved community institution and a forward-looking conservation organization.

The Team:
Sr. Director of Comms + Creative: Jared Hardy
Creative Manager: Winnie Hefner
Senior Copywriter: Jessica Colón
Designers: Zoe Lehn, Stephanie Reaves
Director of Marketing: Loveleen Molnar
Marketing + Project Manager: Stephanie Dustin