Partners
Our partner organizations provide significant advisory or technical support in addition to funding for GRACE programs.
Dallas Zoo
Dallas Zoo is a 106-acre (43 ha) zoo located 3 miles (5 km) south of downtown Dallas, Texas, in Marsalis Park. Established in 1888, it is the oldest and largest zoological park in Texas. The Dallas Zoo provides expertise for GRACE’s Animal Care and Welfare Advisory Group.
Detroit Zoo
The Detroit Zoo encompasses 125 acres of naturalistic habitats and award-winning attractions. The Detroit Zoo provides veterinary support and expertise for GRACE’s Education Advisory Group.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Disney’s Animal Kingdom is a zoological theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Covering 580 acres, it is the largest theme park in the world. The park opened on Earth Day, April 22, 1998. Disney provides expertise for GRACE’s Animal Care and Welfare, Education, and Veterinary Advisory Groups as well as specialized veterinary and scientific support. The organization was also one of the original founders of GRACE.
Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders
Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders is an initiative that brings together emerging leaders in the wildlife conservation field for capacity-building and intense training in campaign development and skills, including implementation of a two-year group international wildlife issue campaign. The group provides technical assistance to GRACE for gorilla reintroduction planning.
Explore
Created and led by Annenberg Foundation Vice President and Director Charles Annenberg Weingarten, Explore is a multimedia organization that documents extraordinary causes and nonprofits around the world. Both educational and inspirational, Explore creates a portal into the soul of humanity by championing the selfless acts of others. Explore’s growing library consists of more than 250 original films and 30,000 photographs from around the world. Explore showcases its work at film festivals, on over 100 public broadcast and cable channels, and on numerous online destinations including Explore.org, Snag Films, Hulu and TakePart. Explore’s works feature a wide range of topics — from animal rights, poverty and health and human services to the environment, education and spirituality. Delivered in short, digestible bites, Explore films appeal to viewers of all ages, from children learning about other cultures for the first time to adults looking for a fresh perspective on the world around them.
Houston Zoo
The Houston Zoo sees over 2 million guests each year coming to experience its incredible variety of animals and ecosystems, as well as attend special private and public events and entertainment. The Houston Zoo provides GRACE with information technology and graphic design support.
Los Angeles Zoo
The Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens is a 133-acre zoo founded in 1966 and located in Los Angeles, California. The city of Los Angeles owns the entire zoo, its land and facilities. Animal care, grounds maintenance, construction, education, public information, and administrative staff are city employees. The Los Angeles Zoo provides expertise for GRACE’s Animal Care and Welfare Advisory Group.
Nashville Zoo at Grassmere
Nashville Zoo is the ninth largest zoo in the United States, with 86 of its total 188 acres developed. The land is owned by the city of Nashville, Tenn., while the zoo itself is a private non-profit organization. The zoo is an AZA-accredited facility with more than one million visitors every year.
Go Ape
Go Ape is an unparalleled outdoor adventure experience. Tackle dangling obstacles, explore the trees from a new perspective and fly around on multiple zip lines from exciting heights. Their Treetop Adventure & Treetop Journey courses are guaranteed to deliver laughter, smiles and a sense of accomplishment. Go Ape is perfect for everyone including friends, families, companies and parties. Their mission is to inspire everyone to live life adventurously.
Collaborators
Our in-country collaborators are major partners that help GRACE to complete its mission in the DRC.
Centre for the Rehabilitation of Primates of Lwiro
The Centre for the Rehabilitation of Primates of Lwiro, created in 2002, is an important conservation tool for primates in the DRC. They care for 72 chimpanzees and 92 monkeys of 11 different species, all of them victims of the pet trade and poaching. CRPL is an important part of DRC’s Conservation Action Plan for Grauer’s gorillas and chimpanzees, and works with GRACE to provide exchange opportunities for caregiver training and continuing education.
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International
Mountain gorillas have been monitored and studied closely since Dian Fossey began her work with them in 1967, after establishing the Karisoke Research Center. Today, Fossey Fund trackers and researchers protect and study about half of the mountain gorillas in Rwanda. The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund provides scientific and technical support for GRACE’s reintroduction and conservation efforts. The fund was also one of the original founders of GRACE.
Gorilla Doctors
The Gorilla Doctors began as the realization of a dream of American gorilla researcher Dian Fossey. Fossey dedicated her life to studying and protecting mountain gorillas in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park. Gorilla Doctors now employs more than a dozen veterinarians and health experts in Rwanda, Uganda, and DRC, the three countries where mountain gorillas live. Gorilla Doctors provides emergency and routine veterinary support for GRACE’s veterinary team.
Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature
The Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature is a Congolese governmental partner tasked with the protection and conservation of the Virunga National Park and Kahuzi-Biega National Park, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Working with various partner programs and NGOs, members of the ICCN are charged with the protection of the parks and the endangered mountain gorilla. The government wildlife authority aids GRACE by investigating poaching cases and handling gorilla
confiscations.
Jane Goodall Institute
Dr. Jane Goodall discovered that when we put local communities at the heart of conservation, we improve the lives of people, animals and the environment. JGI advances Dr. Goodall’s holistic approach through a tapestry of nine programs that build on each other and bring the power of community-centered conservation to life. The institute coordinates the Conservation Action Plan for Grauer’s gorillas and partners with GRACE on youth education activities.
Kivu International School
Kivu International School is a French and English bilingual school that aims to turn Congolese children into tomorrow’s leaders. Located in Goma, DRC, construction of the school is underway. The school will featuring high-end facilities in Goma’s Keshero neighborhood. The school helps provide training for GRACE educators and opportunities to expand GRACE’s educational work into Goma.
MONUSCO
MONUSCO, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC, began on July 1, 2010, taking over from an earlier UN peacekeeping operation. The goal of the mission is to protect civilians, humanitarian personnel and human rights defenders under imminent threat of physical violence and to support the Government of the DRC in its stabilization and peace consolidation efforts. The peacekeeping mission also assists GRACE in transporting rescued gorillas to the center.
Promo Jeune Basket
Promo Jeune Basket is a locally run grassroots organization, based in Goma, DRC, focused on educating youth through basketball. PJB runs daily basketball practices, basketball camps and clinics, provides basketball facilities and equipment throughout the city, and applies a life-skills approach to its programming. The group also provides training for GRACE educators to help kids with life skills education.
Tayna Center for Conservation Biology
The Tayna Center for Conservation Biology was created to train the next generation of conservationists in the DRC. Students study conservation biology and community conservation on the Tayna campus, located seven kilometers from the Tayna Gorilla Reserve, a government-sanctioned 900 square kilometer nature reserve owned and managed by traditional leaders, landowners, and local people. TCCB works with GRACE to provide local logistical and program assistance and to serve as liaison between GRACE and the local communities.
Virunga National Park
Virunga National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the eastern DRC on the border of Uganda and Rwanda. Africa’s oldest national park, it’s also the continent’s most biologically diverse protected area. The park’s 3000 square miles include forests, savannas, lava plains, swamps, active volcanoes, and the glacial peaks of the Rwenzori mountains. Home to about a quarter of the world’s critically endangered mountain gorillas, the park’s two other Great Ape species–eastern lowland Grauer’s gorillas and chimpanzees–make Virunga the only park in the world to host three taxa of Great Apes. VNP works with GRACE to provides temporary care for rescued gorillas and transporting gorillas to the center.
Wildlife Impact
Founded in 2015 by Julie Sherman and Linda Brent, Wildlife Impact is a nonprofit focused on protecting wildlife in developing countries through evidence-based evaluation, capacity development, and advocacy. Their committee members are experts fields including conservation, ecology, wildlife healthcare and welfare, and capacity development. Wildlife Impact provides scientific guidance for GRACE’s current and future gorilla welfare and conservation efforts.
Supporting Organizations
Organizations providing $10,000 or more annually in financial or in-kind support.
Organizations providing between $1,500 and $10,000 or more annually in financial or in-kind support.
Explore other ways to connect with GRACE and stay up-to-date on our latest projects.
Explore other ways to connect with GRACE and stay up-to-date on our latest projects.
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