Lindsay Wildlife Names New Executive Director

WALNUT CREEK, CA — The Lindsay Wildlife Experience Board of Directors has named a new executive director for the 68-year-old pioneering wildlife hospital and education center.

Bay Area resident and animal lover Karen Deshayes, who has served as interim director since August 2021, will assume the permanent role of executive director July 1, it was announced Tuesday.

“We are excited to welcome Karen as our new permanent Executive Director,” said Janet Kozlowski, president of the Lindsay Wildlife Experience Board of Directors. “Karen’s enthusiasm and proven leadership experience, including her success at Lindsay over the past two years, speak to a bright future for our organization.”

Deshayes is a former vice president of Union Bank and Bank of America’s Private Bank and has held interim leadership roles at nonprofit community-based organizations, including Marin Legal Aid; Child Family and Community Services, Inc.; Education Through Music (ETM) Bay Area; Community Housing Partnership, and Centerforce.

Her financial expertise was invaluable following the pandemic, and she will continue to focus on fundraising, community partnerships, hospital and exhibit hall renovation and expansion, as well as daily operations and finances. She will also help steward the expansion of the center’s Nature Cove—making it an immersive experience with animal enclosures, hands-on activities, and play space for children.

“It is my great pleasure to work with this well-loved organization whose mission is to connect people with wildlife to inspire responsibility and respect for the world we share,” Deshayes said. “I look forward to continuing to work with our talented staff and board of directors, dedicated volunteer force, and of course our invaluable supporters.”

Lindsay Wildlife Experience is a unique combination of a natural history museum, environmental education center, and wildlife rehabilitation hospital housed under one roof at 1931 First Ave. in Walnut Creek. More than 80,000 children and adults annually visit the museum. The wildlife rehabilitation hospital was established as the first of its kind in the nation and treats more than 5,000 California wild animals each year.