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Development leader Jennifer Van Valkenburg appointed President of Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance

The Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance announced today that Jennifer Van Valkenburg is the new President and CEO of Chicago’s Garfield Park Conservatory, one of the largest public plant conservatories in the world.  Van Valkenburg has spent her career serving preeminent conservation and cultural institutions including Openlands, the Chicago Architecture Foundation and the John G. Shedd Aquarium. She brings twenty years of experience in fundraising and nonprofit management.

“The Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance (GPCA) conducted a nationwide search for its new CEO. We are thrilled to find Jennifer Van Valkenburg right here in Chicago and are confident she will increase regional and national visibility of the Conservatory, develop individual, foundation and corporate partnerships, expand programs and exhibitions, and enhance collaboration with the Chicago Park District, the City of Chicago, and the broader Chicago community,” said Paul Levy, GPCA Board Chairman.  

“I am honored to serve the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance in this role and welcome new audiences to this magnificent destination for learning and exploration,” said Van Valkenburg. “Because nature is a unifying force, it is more imperative than ever to connect all generations and walks of life to the landscape, plants and wildlife that sustain us and bring us together.”

Van Valkenburg received a Master of Public Administration from the University of South Alabama and a Bachelor of Arts from Illinois State University. She is a resident of Chicago’s Ukrainian Village neighborhood and is a former member of the Chicago Park District’s Smith Park Advisory Council.

The Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance works closely with the Chicago Park District to provide educational programming, events and resources to Conservatory visitors year-round. Programs range from bees, compost, and plant propagation to dynamic arts and culture programs that serve Chicago and beyond.  

The Garfield Park Conservatory now hosts over 230,000 visitors annually, engages over 56,000 of them with free public programming and provides school field trips for over 17,000 Chicago children.  The Conservatory is owned and managed by the Chicago Park District and has showcased "landscape art under glass" for over 100 years.  Its magnificent glass domed structure was designed by Jens Jensen in collaboration with the world-renowned Prairie School architects on a 285-acre site in 1906. 

For more information, visit www.garfieldconservatory.org.

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About Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance

The Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance changes lives through the power of nature. GPCA inspires, educates and provokes exploration through innovative programs and experiences in one of the nation’s largest and finest historic conservatories. GPCA is a non-profit organization that works closely with the Chicago Park District to provide educational programming, events and resources to Conservatory visitors year round.   Programs range from bees, compost, and plant propagation to dynamic arts and culture programs that serve Chicago and beyond.  The Garfield Park Conservatory now hosts over 230,000 visitors annually, engages over 56,000 of them with free public programming and provides school field trips for over 17,000 Chicago children.   The Garfield Park Conservatory is owned and managed by the Chicago Park District and has showcased "landscape art under glass" for over 100 years. Visit us at garfieldconservatory.org to learn more and become a member!  Follow us on social media @gpconservatory.

About Garfield Park Conservatory

The Garfield Park Conservatory is owned and managed by the Chicago Park District and has showcased "landscape art under glass" for over 100 years. Opened in 1908, the historic Garfield Park Conservatory (300 N. Central Park Ave.) showcases 2,000 varieties of plants ranging from Midwest natives to exotic species, as well as fountains, ponds and a prairie-style waterfall, inside stunning glass houses designed to replicate desert, tropical and prehistoric rainforest environments. The Conservatory's 14-acre campus also boasts three outdoor gardens, an expansive rolling lawn and a stone terrace.