A zookeeper at the Minnesota Zoo in his 20s, John Frawley, now in his 50s, experienced a full-circle moment when he was tapped to be director of the organization in 2016, aligning his lifelong passion for nature with the zoo’s mission of education and wildlife conservation. At the helm of the fifth-largest (acreage) zoo in the U.S., with nearly 500 acres, Frawley says he keeps access to the zoo at the forefront of everything he does. Coming in the summer of 2023 will be the zoo’s $35 million repurposed monorail, now a treetop trail designed for all abilities and seasons.

Return to TCB 100 for 2023