We had the good fortune of connecting with Jill Dreves and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jill, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Having grown up the mountains of northern Colorado, I had a unique experience of attending a K-8 32 student mountain school, exploring the mountain ecosystem all day every day outside of school hours. I became a public school teacher and during the summers was a naturalist with the Vail Nature Center. When I moved to Nederland, Colorado to teach at Nederland Elementary School, I was shocked that there was no nature center open regularly to the general public in all of Boulder County. My passion was children, but also was with building community in nature.

I jumped off a cliff in 1995 to start Wild Bear Science School (now Wild Bear Nature Center) and it has done nothing but grow over the last 29 years. We are now building an 8,500 net positive nature center on 3,000 acres on the northern boundary of Nederland, Colorado

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a creative entrepreneur who invested $500 from my savings account to create Wild Bear in 1995. In 1997, I formed the organization into a 501(c)c nonprofit organization. In 1999, under my leadership, Wild Bear partnered with the Town of Nederland and Boulder County to preserve what is now almost 3,000 acres.

It hasn’t always been easy. As a lifelong educator, I had no business or nonprofit experience. I learned quickly about diversifying funding streams, setting financial and strategic goals, and developing a big vision for the future. Staffing, (recruiting, hiring, developing, evaluating, retaining) was a big eye opener for me. I am a doer and I soon learned that I needed to allow others to lead and make their own mistakes. I learned how important it is to build a team of creative and dynamic leaders.

Wild Bear Nature Center is now building a net positive nature center on that 3,000 acres. We have a big vision and the nature center will be transformative for the entire state of Colorado. It is a community driven, creative, nature organization with the grit and determination to bring people together for what matters most: children, nature and the future of the planet.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would hike the indian Peaks and James Peak Wilderness to enjoy the gorgeous wildflower beauty, listen to and watch the Broad Tail Hummingbird and breathe the fresh air. We would enjoy the Carousel of Happiness and the Wild Bear Nature Center and have a beer at Very Nice Brewery. We would enjoy a delicious and fun dinner at Crosscut Pizzaria and maybe go to a movie at the BackDoor Theatre. We would go for a night hike to mud lake and sit on the shore to watch the full moon, point out the constellations and listen to the Great horned Owl in the distance.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
As a child, I was deeply inspired by an entomologist, Judy Bodenham, who lived deep in the forest and shared her scientific lab and good practices with my sister and I. My parents, John and Reuel Dreves. were pioneers to move their family from inner city chicago to deep in these mountains and they did all that they could to be sure we held a deep love for nature.

Website: www.wildbear.org

Instagram: instagram.com/wildbearnaturecenter/

Linkedin: Wild Bear Nature Center

Facebook: Wild Bear Nature Center

Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCdcu_GaZytCltv7l6CCRspw/featured

Image Credits
Wild Bear Nature Center Jill Dreves

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