Speaker: Sean Putney, CEO of the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium

On January 1, 2022, Sean Putney took the reins of the Kansas City Zoo as its new executive director/CEO following an extensive nationwide search by the Friends of the Zoo board of directors. Sean was not a new face at the Zoo, however, as he had been serving as its Chief Zoological Officer.

A native of Pennsylvania, Sean began his 30-year career at the Catalina Island Marine Institute in California and then spent 12 years at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo working his way up through animal care and curator positions. In 2007, Sean joined the Kansas City Zoo as an animal curator and spent five years in that position before being named Director of Living Collections. In 2016, he became Senior Director of Zoological Operations and in 2019, was promoted to Chief Zoological Officer, overseeing the Zoo’s animal collection, animal care staff, conservation program, veterinary health department, and facilities.

Sean has been instrumental in the new and renovated animal habitats that have been accomplished at the Kansas City Zoo in the last decade, as well as the increased customer satisfaction the Zoo has achieved. Sean will now oversee the biggest project in the Zoo’s history, a $75-million aquarium that opened in 2023.

Sean has been an active member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the primary accrediting body of zoos and aquariums in the United States. He graduated from the AZA’s Executive Leadership Development Program in 2018 and is a current member of the AZA Government Affairs Committee. He continues to serve as the coordinator of the AZA’s Wyoming Toad Species Survival Plan (SSP), leading efforts to reintroduce this species to its native habitat. He has been an AZA accreditation inspector for seven years.

Recently, Sean spearheaded the Kansas City Zoo’s own accreditation efforts, leading to an extension of the facility’s accreditation to 2026. AZA accreditation is considered the national standard and is granted to less than 10% of animal exhibitors licensed by the USDA.

Sean and wife Cyndie have been married 30 years, have raised two sons, and are now proud grandparents of two grandsons.

Luncheon Information

Monday, February 24th, 2025**

• Networking: 11:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.

• Luncheon: 12 - 1 p.m.

Luncheon Tickets: $30

Hosted at:
The Kansas City Central Library
14 West 10th Street
Kansas City, MO 64105

* Validated Parking at the Library Parking Garage

** Note the date was changed from February 12 to 24, due to snowy/icy conditions. All who purchased admission tickets for February 12 do not need to repurchase or transfer to February 24. The admission tickets will automatically transfer. If you cannot make the new date of February 24 & want to cancel & get a refund, please email admin@kcdowntowners.com.