If you read the recent article about the sanctuary published first in the Pacific NW Magazine of the Seattle Times, you probably noticed that my role was written about in the beginning of the piece. It was a really good article and also explained the founding of the sanctuary and the host of volunteers and other staff who have made the sanctuary possible.
There’s a sentence in there that begins, “Diana and her team…” and that has been making me think about our unique structure here, so I thought I’d explain it and attempt to compare our system to the fluid roles that we also see within the group of chimpanzees.
Before getting to the less interesting human side of things, here’s a little story from today that illustrates the dynamic hierarchy of the chimpanzees:
When I opened the door to give the chimpanzees access to Young’s Hill (their large outdoor habitat) this morning, Jody led a charge up the hill, with Missy and Foxie following:
Jamie, who we refer to as the boss of the group, was nowhere to be seen. I suspected she was keeping a close watch over staff member Anna and volunteers Alan and Jonathan, who were hard at work cleaning the playroom.
Moments later, Annie joined the chimp trekkers. The four quickly disappeared into the grass and bamboo on the hill, Jody still leading the way.
Burrito then started after the group:
Being a male chimpanzee you might assume that he is the default leader – that’s certainly the way it is for chimpanzee groups in the wild. But captivity is not the wild, and male chimpanzees do not automatically take the dominant positions, especially chimpanzees like Burrito who were raised by humans rather than in a chimpanzee family.
If you saw him tear through the playroom with other chimpanzees scattering to get out of his way, though, you would naturally assume he’s got some sort of pull over the group.
After an already hesitant start and with the four females out of sight, he decided to turn back:
playfully stomping as he passed me
Then he awaited the return of the wanderers from the shelter of the greenhouse:
Several minutes passed before I saw Foxie emerge solo, aside from the headless doll she was carrying in her mouth:
I decided to take my leave at that point to check on the cleaning progress and say hello to Jamie, who was indeed watching the human cleaning procession, and Negra, the queen of the group appropriately napping within her throne of blankets.
If you had taken that snapshot of the group, you might assume that Jody was the leader. And perhaps she was in that moment. Chimpanzee hierarchies are not as linear as you might first assume.
In fact, the social network of the seven chimpanzees was studied by Jake Funkhouser, former Central Washington University Primate Behavior and Ecology master’s student and current biological anthropology PhD student at Washington University in St Louis.
To quote from his published Plos One paper, “Our results indicate that the conventional methods used to calculate individuals’ dominance rank may be inadequate to wholly depict the group’s social relationships in this captive sanctuary population.”
And so, I now submit that a similar conclusion could be made about the human roles at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. First, rather than one person in the executive director position, which is more typical of both for-profits and non-profits, J.B. and I currently serve as co-directors, dividing up the various tasks that are required to oversee the daily operation of the organization. Are we then the bosses?
Well, no… like other registered non-profits, our bosses are all of the members of the Board of Directors. So, are they ultimately in charge?
I suppose it depends on the way you look at it. Actually the board and co-directors collectively answer to the donors as a whole, because they/you are who enable the sanctuary to continue to exist. Donors also have some legal avenues to pursue if they feel their donations have not been used to advance the mission of the organization. Okay, so the donors are the ultimate bosses?
Well… being a sanctuary, we consider the chimpanzees themselves to be our ultimate bosses. After all, we are specifically here to serve them.
Then, take a look at our staffing hierarchy – each of the five full-time and one part-time staff members (this includes J.B. and myself), have various duties outside of the chimp house.
As for our chimp house roles, however, we are on equal standing because we rotate days in the role of what we call “lead caregiver.” That means that if I’m “second staff” on a day when Anna is lead, she’s in charge of the chimp house, I defer to her decisions, and I’m here to support her. We have this structure mostly because we’re a small staff (or “tiny sanctuary in Washington” to quote the Pacific NW Magazine article) and rotating the lead role just makes us all able to function and get more done.
I think the structure also directly benefits the chimpanzees because each of us are able to both develop relationships with the chimpanzees and have a say in their care.
We also have a committee made up of board members and outside members called the Direct Care Committee that takes on high-level policy issues specifically related to the medical care and overall well-being of the chimpanzees.
So, who’s in charge of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest?
It really all just depends. But it’s true we definitely are a team. You included.
I am acutely aware of the role of donors right now because of our year-end fundraising, which highlights the largest single donation pledged in the history of the sanctuary (I still can’t believe it!) and our largest fundraising goal ever.
Thank you to everyone who has already given and is rooting for the sanctuary to have many more bosses in various forms in the near future.
PatC says
I love this post. If only the human world at large could work so cooperatively. 😉
Jo Lathrop says
Superb post, Diana!! Thank you and love and jigs (hahaha my right hand was off a key) and hugs to you all!!
Diana says
Jigs to you too, Jo 🙂
Kathleen says
Oh Burrito, you are so dear, I wish you had the courage (is this the correct word?!) to continue your walk on Young’s Hill today to catch up with the girls. But I love you no matter what you do.
On the topic of running the sanctuary, as a follower and a small supporter I know you all place the best interest of the chimps first and foremost, every single minute of every day. But it is super cool knowing (but not all surprising) that you place trust in every employee to care for the chimps on individual days. Just another reason to love and support you all the more! As individuals we all bring something different to the table, chimps and humans alike, and our individual points of view make a difference to the whole. CSNW, you are exemplary in your filed. SO proud to be supporting such an outstanding organization. And I am so happy to bear witness to the ongoing progress of seven friends I love so deeply — your love, devotion, and experience gives the Cle Elum Seven the opportunity to blossom and change on their own terms. What you do is SO significant, I hope you know this.
This was a very cool post Diana, thanks for reminding me why you guys are so incredible!
Diana says
Thank you, Kathleen! Your support is extremely significant. I hope you know that!
Katen says
What a great Post. Roles change in the natural order of things as is evidenced in your clever blog, In the end, it is the chimps who call the shots, those faces and personalities who make me reach into my wallet as often as possible, make me charge as much as possible to Smile so that every Amazon purchase benefits the chimps, and excites me each day to open the blog to see what is happening with them. They are irrestible. Watching them grow as they patrol the hill instinctually is exciting and interesting. The humans in their lives are the background noise without which the show would not go on. But they are the main event and the reason for such interest from around the world. In this season of generosity and giving, every little bit counts. We are giving up our personal gifts so we can donate to the chimps. I don’t need Alexa listening to my every conversation but I do need to hear the food squeaks of these chimps. Quite frankly, they rock my world and their well being is important and their journey is the gift that keeps giving. So who is on first anyway!?
Diana says
Thank you, Karen! I especially appreciated the comment about Alexa – haha, I don’t need that either!
Carla René says
Hi, Diana,
I agree with Pat. This was an awesomely-refreshing post about staff, but from a different POV.
Your structure reminds me of what we call an Ensemble Theatre (the Steppenwolf in Chicago is probably the most famous in that regard; stars who came out of there and are now famous are Gary Senise, John Malkovich and Laurie Metcalf for some). I worked at the most successful one in Nashville when I was off from TV roles, and I think all theatres and even more businesses should follow the paradigm. With theatre, of course, roles are cast according to the highly specific needs of the script and availability of the actors. But as opposed to most theatres, both community and professional who formulate their groups around an actor who sees themselves as the most talented and thus the most deserving of all roles, ensemble theatres choose their scripts so that all members get a higher percentage of chances to have leading roles.
So if actor A has had the leading role in the first quarter’s show, then actor B will get a leading role during second quarter, whilst actor A will either take on a menial role in the chorus, a supporting role that’s lesser but still substantial nonetheless, they might pitch a hand sewing costumes, doing make-up, or even cleaning toilets. And so it goes throughout the season. Working in a theatre of this nature is amazing experience for everyone, because
It occurred to me whilst reading that a major reason it’s beneficial to operate a business as you are is because of the very reasons above. If one of your employees wishes to go to another sanctuary, they will have undoubtedly operated within a series of different jobs/skills which will be beneficial to the new place, or, they may even possess the needed experience to operate their own.
Yep, I loved this post. It may be one of my faves so far.
Cheers.
Diana says
Interesting – I never knew what an ensemble theatre entailed.
Carla René says
Srry. Was just re-reading and noticed I left a hanging sentence. I meant to say it’s amazing experience because even those who normally might never see leading roles or leadership have a fantastic opportunity at learning how to prepare for those roles, and not just spend their entire careers in supporting roles.
I see it the same for here, too.
Srry again.
Tobin says
Diana, thank you for yet another insightful posting on the different roles which the chimpanzees and their
human assistants play at the sanctuary (I assume that the cattle have their modus operandi that serves their
bovine way of life). Sometimes I not only wonder if Burrito feels lonesome being the only Chimpman in
residence at the sanctuary, but how he might react if one or more chimpguys arrived in or near to his territory? I like to imagine that he would have some new buddies with whom to roughhouse (if I were a young chimpanzee of any sex, I would like to hang out with Burrito during his non-displaying times; alas, Mr. B. can display on a dime…), but I also worry that some serious violence may occur to establish dominance.
Diana says
Indeed, we wonder the same thing about introducing other males to the group. It could go either way, and probably a bit of both. Our group now is not without fights/violence, and it would unrealistic to expect an entirely peaceful group of chimpanzees. I think that Burrito could really benefit from some male companionship. Hopefully we will be able to find out!
Carla René says
What happened to every single comment on this except for Pat’s?? When I posted this morning, there were at least 8 other comments!
I don’t even get notified if anyone replies to my comments. Does anyone else have that problem?
Diana says
I see several other comments on here. I’m not sure why you’re not seeing them?
Carla René says
Thanks, D. I think it was my browser glitch. As soon as I posted that where is everyone post, they magically appeared. 😐
But I still don’t receive notifications by e-mail when anyone responds to my comments. I have to remember on which blog posts I’ve commented and then come back to them later to check. It’s been going on since you switched blog services.
🙁