2023 ANNUAL REPORT
A Message from the Chairman of the Board and the CEO & President
At the Chicago Botanic Garden, growth tells a vibrant story— from our stunning landscapes to our plant conservation research to the urban farms of Windy City Harvest.
Our growth, and the change that comes with it, is a sign of a thriving organization. In 2023, we affirmed a new five-year strategic plan that calls for broadening the Garden’s reach and connecting people to the power of plants so people and planet may thrive. We aim to develop our main campus in Glencoe to become more resilient and relevant, grow our Chicago-area partnerships beyond Windy City Harvest, increase our global contributions in plant conservation science, and become more sustainable financially and operationally with a thriving organizational culture.
Throughout this Annual Report, you’ll see our refreshed branding, which reflects how we’ve evolved since the Garden opened in 1972. Our new logo and tagline reflect who we are today— welcoming, vibrant, modern—and unite the Garden’s main campus with our plant science, learning, and urban agriculture programs, while allowing each program to stand on its own.
Our reaccreditation by the American Alliance of Museums was another proud moment. We’re one of only 25 accredited arboreta/botanic gardens in the United States. In its review, the Alliance noted that, “The Chicago Botanic Garden is an excellent museum, a world-class botanic garden, and a clear leader in our industry.”
As we grow, we’re keeping the visitor experience at the top of our concerns. Last year, we celebrated the opening of our Welcome Plaza and the Stone Family Picnic Glade. We also completed a record number of capital maintenance improvements, funded by the first year of tax revenue from the Forest Preserves of Cook County’s successful property tax referendum.
Your support has been essential to the successes—past, present, and future—of our growing living museum. We invite you to grow with us.
Michael R. Zimmerman Chair of the Board
Jean M. Franczyk President & CEO
We cultivate the power of plants to sustain and enrich life.
Cover: Through a weeping willow on the shores of Evening Island, the rising sun illuminates the calm waters of the Great Basin.
Above: The lush late-summer setting of the Thomas English Walled Garden is the perfect backdrop for a tête-à-tête.
PLANTS. PEOPLE. PLANET.
With your help, in 2023, the Chicago Botanic Garden connected people to the power of plants so people and planets may thrive.
As chief scientist, Kay Havens, Ph.D., is leading our work to turn plant science into action. Garden scientists are training other botanic gardens around the world on our plant studbook approach to preventing extinctions. We’re also teaching the next generation of conservation leaders through our Stewardship and Ecology of Natural Areas (SENA) internship program, which was launched in 2023 to provide hands-on habitat restoration experience and training. With a Walder Foundation grant, we established a pollen bank focused on conserving oaks and orchids of the Great Lakes region and supporting the recovery of rare and endangered plants from around the world.
The Regenstein Learning Campus is more than a place to roll down hills and find a thriving Nature Preschool. In 2023, the Regenstein School expanded our lifelong learning opportunities for people of all ages. A full group of 60 6th- to 12th-grade students participated in the 2023 summer Science Career Continuum. We’re also working with the Skokie and Waukegan school districts to incorporate field trips to the Garden into their science curriculum. In adult learning, registration for wellness programs increased by 30 percent, and cooking programs by 150 percent. We’re continuing to find ways to expand our impact through programs such as Budburst, which reached nearly 2,000 people in 2023 through off-site, informal education events.
The dream began in 2003 with 15 teens and one acre of land in North Chicago. Since then, Windy City Harvest has grown to 13 farms across the South and West Sides of Chicago. Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2023, Windy City Harvest now is a national role model. We’ve partnered with the United States Botanic Garden to help seven gardens across the country launch or expand their own urban agriculture programs. And last year, at the Farm on Ogden, we hosted the 2023 Nutrition Incentive Hub and shared with a national audience our model for VeggieRx, a prescription produce program.
Negaunee Institute Regenstein School Windy City HarvestImpact
Every year, you help us shape how people experience, value, and care for the planet.
SNAPSHOT: 2023
1.2 million visits
$21 million gift from The Negaunee Foundation for plant conservation science and restoration
2.9 million living plants in permanent collection
244,000 free admissions 290,000 lifelong learners reached
15,000 VeggieRx boxes of produce distributed from Windy City Harvest farms
4,800 pounds of Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden produce donated
SNAPSHOT: BUILDING MOMENTUM
100 million seeds stored in Dixon National Tallgrass Prairie Seed Bank
50,000 plants propagated and returned to the Forest Preserves since 2019
65,000 member households
You make the difference
We are grateful for the invaluable support of our partners—especially the Forest Preserves of Cook County—along with our donors, sponsors, members, volunteers, staff, board members, and visitors. Thank you for helping us grow a better world.
Statement of financial position
As of December 31, 2023 (in millions of dollars)
$2 million of Forest Preserves of Cook County revenues is for capital maintenance and not reflected in operating expenses.
Complete, audited financial statements for the Chicago Botanic Garden, including the auditor’s report, for the year ending December 31, 2023, are available at chicagobotanic.org/annual_report.
Operating
$61
$59
revenue and other support
million Operating expenditures
million
EDUCATION FEES 4% ALLOCATION OF LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS & OTHER 1% CONTRIBUTIONS/IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS 14% RESTRICTED PROGRAM GIFTS 16% OTHER GRANT & CONTRACT REVENUE 4% GOVERNMENT GRANTS 5% MEMBERSHIP 13% SPONSORSHIPS 1% VISITOR PROGRAMS AND OPERATIONS 24% FOREST PRESERVES OF COOK COUNTY 18% ADMINISTRATION 15% MEMBERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT 9% COMMUNICATIONS 5% VISITOR PROGRAMS AND OPERATIONS 24% SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS 15% GARDENS AND GROUNDS 21% • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT 11% • EDUCATION FEES 4% ALLOCATION OF LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS & OTHER 1% CONTRIBUTIONS/IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS 14% RESTRICTED PROGRAM GIFTS 16% OTHER GRANT & CONTRACT REVENUE 4% GOVERNMENT GRANTS 5% MEMBERSHIP 13% SPONSORSHIPS 1% VISITOR PROGRAMS AND OPERATIONS 24% FOREST PRESERVES OF COOK COUNTY 18% ADMINISTRATION 15% MEMBERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT 9% COMMUNICATIONS 5% VISITOR PROGRAMS AND OPERATIONS 24% SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS 15% GARDENS AND GROUNDS 21% • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT 11% • ASSETS Cash $13.4 Pledges receivable 23.8 Accounts receivable 0.3 Investments 173.5 Prepaid expenses and other assets 5.8 Property and equipment 128.6 TOTAL $345.5 LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS Liabilities Accounts payable and accrued expenses $7.0 Other liabilities 8.6 Bonds payable 49.7 Total liabilities $65.2 NET ASSETS Without donor restrictions $165.2 With donor restrictions 115.0 Total net assets $280.2 TOTAL $345.5
CHICAGO HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
Board of Directors
Officers
Michael R. Zimmerman
Chair
Jean M. Franczyk
President and Chief Executive Officer
Fred Spicer
Executive Vice President and Director
Paul Rafac
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Ivan A. Adames
Chief Development Officer
2023 Board of Directors
Dora Aalbregtse ˚
Jake Amsbary
Dana Anderson
Ann Balusek
Matt Banholzer
Carol A. Barnett
Russell F. Bartmes
Heather Lowe Becker
Martha D. Boudos
Terrence R. Brady
James Brooks
John H. Buehler
Suzanne M. Burns
Sandy Campbell ˚
Robin Colburn
Jill M. Delaney
Timothy A. Dugan
Diana S. Ferguson
Robert F. Finke
Jean M. Franczyk ˚
Steven J. Gavin
Nancy Gidwitz
Christopher E. Girgenti
Ellis M. Goodman
Joseph P. Gromacki
William J. Hagenah
Kathleen Hagerty
Julie Falstad Hayes
Joanne Chun Hughes
Jane Irwin
Samuel S. Jacobs
Gregory K. Jones
Peter Keehn
Megan Kellerman ˚
Lydia R. B. Kelley
Barbara Malott Kizziah
Jennifer Schwarz, Ph.D. Vice President, Learning & Public Programs
Aida Z. Giglio Vice President, Human Resources
Kayri Havens, Ph.D. Chief Scientist & Negaunee Vice President for Science
Gwen VanderBurg Vice President, Marketing & Communications
R. Henry Kleeman
Thomas E. Lanctot
Anne Leventry
Diane vS. Levy
Laura M. Linger
Anne S. Loucks
Michael J. McMurray
Christopher Merrill
Britt M. Miller
Gregory A. Moerschel
Lois L. Morrison
Henry Munez
Craig Niemann
Jane S. Park
Toni Preckwinkle ˚
Bob Probst
Arnold Randall ˚
Mary B. Richardson-Lowry
Shawnelle Richie
John C. Robak
Ryan S. Ruskin
Anita M. Sarafa
Richard Sciortino
Robert E. Shaw
Andrew Sinclair
Maria Smithburg
Pam F. Szokol
Glena Temple
Ernest W. Torain, Jr.
Jean Z. Tsai
Anita M. Tyson
Catherine M. Waddell
Wanjiku J. Walcott
Melvin F. Williams, Jr.
Nicole S. Williams
Ernest C. Wong
Life Directors
Neville F. Bryan J. Melfort Campbell*
Barbara Whitney Carr
David R. Casper
Gary P. Coughlan
Peter R. Crane
James W. DeYoung
Thomas A. Donahoe
Peter B. Foreman
Ralph F. Fujimoto*
James J. Glasser*
Caryn L. Harris
John L. Howard
William H. Kurtis
Donna La Pietra
Benjamin F. Lenhardt, Jr.
Daniel I. H. Linzer
Josephine P. Louis
Mary L. McCormack
Jeanine McNally
William E. Moeller
William A. Osborn
Homi B. Patel
Susan L. Regenstein
Anne O. Scott
David Byron Smith
Susan K. Stone
Richard L. Thomas
Ernest P. Waud III
Susan A. Willetts
Arthur M. Wood, Jr. ˚ ex officio * deceased
1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, Illinois 60022 U.S.A. chicagobotanic.org (847) 835-5440
To view our Annual Report online, please visit chicagobotanic.org/annual_report
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One of the treasures of the Forest Preserves of Cook County
Our Stewardship and Ecology of Natural Areas (SENA) program prepares interns for careers in habitat restoration. Here, SENA interns and Windy City Harvest apprentices prepare native plant beds at our Rodeo Farm site. Seed harvested from these plants will help restore native habitats in the Forest Preserves of Cook County.