Dusty Lombardi has served as the Executive Director of Ohio Wildlife Center since 2014 and been a vital leader in its growth and evolution ever since. In the 1980s, Dusty was a keeper at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, in charge of hand-rearing all of the infants. She was then promoted to Senior Vice President of Animal Care leading all aspects of animal care at the Zoo. Interestingly enough, Dusty ran into Ohio Wildlife Center Founder, Don Burton coincidentally on a tour across the country at the San Diego Zoo. They immediately recognized each other from their common ground in Columbus and found mutual interest in preserving wildlife, both native and exotic. Dusty served as the zoo liaison to Ohio Wildlife Center as well as on Ohio Wildlife Center’s Board of Trustees for two terms. When she retired from the zoo in 2012, she found herself back at Ohio Wildlife Center when Dr. Burton asked her to serve at the Chief Officer of Operations. When Dr. Burton passed away in 2014, Dusty stood up to take his place as Executive Director. Her connection to Columbus Zoo and Aquarium has remained strong and blossomed into a fruitful partnership between the Zoo and Ohio Wildlife Center.
In the past 5 years, Ohio Wildlife Center has undergone many changes. Dusty describes this as “more of a constant evolution than an adaptation.” The early vision of helping and healing Ohio’s injured wildlife has grown to successfully incorporate an emphasis on education. Dusty says this is a crucial aspect of our mission, to combine the work with education and bridge the gap between short and long term success. “When we successfully rehabilitate an injured red-tailed hawk back to the wild, we are helping now. When we successfully educate a child about the importance of wildlife preservation, we are helping in the future.” Don Burton worked to build the name of the Ohio Wildlife Center, and the physical buildings and programs have been built around that legacy.
For Dusty, the most impactful facet of Ohio Wildlife Center is a combination of the Wildlife Hospital and the Infoline. “These are opportunities for people to bring something broken to an expert, there’s an intersection of crisis and education.”
When asked about her vision for the future of the organization, Dusty speaks of SCRAM! Wildlife Control, the Center’s social enterprise service. SCRAM!’s goal is to decrease human-wildlife conflict by humanely evicting animals from living space. These efforts work to also decrease the number of animals we see injured in the hospital. With the increased urbanization of Columbus and the surrounding areas, a long term goal for SCRAM! is to have a seat at the table when developers are creating these subdividing plans to advocate for smart and sustainable building in terms of wildlife preservation. Another area in which Dusty hopes to improve, is educational outreach to underprivileged areas of Columbus where wildlife knowledge is not as easily accessible. Spreading a positive attitude about animals in and out of the city can also impact the number of injuries seen in the Center’s hospital. Our upbeat mission can spread joy as well as protect native animals.
Strong and steady leadership is imperative to the success of a small nonprofit organization such as Ohio Wildlife Center. When asked about leadership keys, Dusty expresses the need to be diverse as a leader, as well at trustworthy and sound. “You must be trustworthy so that people believe in not only your mission but your ability to carry out the mission successfully.” That she has done.
“It’s easy to stay motivated in the nonprofit sector because of what we do here.” Dusty explains when asked about the threat of burnout. There is constant growth and success at the Center, that offers positive reinforcement on frustrating days. The magic of seeing an injured animal fly back out into the wild on its own is powerful and pushes Dusty and many of our staff members to keep moving. Not all hospital stories end happily, but when they do– that’s what makes this worth it.
“The dedication of the people in a small nonprofit is so different than any other environment. Nobody’s going to get rich, that’s not why they’re doing this. They’re doing it to be a part of something larger than all of us.”