Leadership Team
Jane Goodall, Ph.D, DBE
Founder, the Jane Goodall Institute &
UN Messenger of Peace
In July 1960, Jane Goodall began her landmark study of chimpanzee behavior in what is now Tanzania. Her work at Gombe Stream would become the foundation of future primatological research and redefine the relationship between humans and animals.
In 1977, Dr. Goodall established the Jane Goodall Institute, which continues the Gombe research and is a global leader in the effort to protect chimpanzees and their habitats. The Institute is widely recognized for innovative, community-centered conservation and development programs in Africa, and Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, the global environmental and humanitarian youth program.
Dr. Goodall founded Roots & Shoots with a group of Tanzanian students in 1991. Today, Roots & Shoots connects hundreds of thousands of youth in more than 120 countries who take action to make the world a better place for people, animals and the environment.
Dr. Goodall travels an average 300 days per year, speaking about the threats facing chimpanzees, other environmental crises, and her reasons for hope that humankind will solve the problems it has imposed on the earth.
Dr. Goodall’s honors include the French Legion of Honor, the Medal of Tanzania and Japan’s prestigious Kyoto Prize. In 2002, Dr. Goodall was appointed to serve as a United Nations Messenger of Peace and in 2003, she was named a Dame of the British Empire.
Maureen P. Smith
JGI-USA President and Chief Executive Officer
A veteran of the media industry, Smith recently led Discovery Communication’s Animal Planet channel, as well as Animal Planet Media Enterprises. A highly effective leader with extensive management skills, Smith is uniquely qualified to guide the Institute as it continues to replicate its acclaimed community-centered conservation approach in chimpanzee range countries in Africa while building upon the success of Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, the Institute’s global environmental and humanitarian youth program.
While at Animal Planet, she met and worked alongside her “lifelong hero,” Dr. Goodall. Together with Dr. Goodall and JGI staff, Smith and her team developed and produced documentaries designed to inspire and inform people around the world to support JGI and do their part to protect the planet. The films and specials included Return to Gombe, Jane Goodall’s When Animals Talk and Jane Goodall’s Heroes.
Smith also personally developed and championed Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots Minutes, which highlighted the efforts of Roots & Shoots groups across the globe and invited viewers to go online to learn more about the program. The advertiser-sponsored video shorts aired weekdays for more than a year.
Smith led Animal Planet to record revenues and profits and helped grow the business by using technology to create new ways of engaging people of all ages. She transformed animalplanet.com from a simple promotional website into a top-notch money-making source for animal-centric entertainment, information and games, while also leading her team to the acquisition of petfinder.com (the world’s #1 pet-related website). This accomplishment was recognized by Ad Age magazine as one of the “Top 10 Internet Acquisitions of 2006.”
Smith’s wealth of expertise in branding, marketing and consumer research boosted Animal Planet to #1 in the rankings among moms (who voted it a “most trusted” media company for their families) and the company’s licensing and merchandising division had its most profitable year ever. During her tenure, Smith worked closely with the Smithsonian National Zoo, the National Aquarium in Baltimore and dozens of other organizations on various conservation awareness and fundraising projects.
In addition to the new Jane Goodall specials, Smith revitalized the legendary conservation-focused franchise Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and worked hand in hand with the National Wildlife Federation to coproduce Backyard Habitat, which taught people how to transform their surroundings into sustainable wildlife habitats.
A believer in “giving back,” Smith assisted in the creation and distribution of free curriculum guides to supplement content at the three networks where she worked. She also participated in Cable in the Classroom by providing teachers with free access to company-produced educational media. At Animal Planet, Smith and her team established the channel’s first-ever animal advocacy initiative, R.O.A.R. (Reach Out. Act. Respond.), which empowered viewers who wanted to make the world a better place. Dr. Goodall was a featured spokesperson in the R.O.A.R. campaign.
In addition, Smith was honored by Retinis Pigmentosa International with a People of Vision Award for being the leader of the first television network to provide programming narrated to the blind and was recognized by the Starlight Children’s Foundation for helping to grant wishes to terminally ill children.
A graduate of the University of Southern California, Smith has twice been named as one of the most powerful women in entertainment by The Hollywood Reporter magazine. She has been profiled everywhere from The Washington Post to Smart Money magazine, as well as in the business book, The Opt-Out Revolt: Why People Are Leaving Companies to Create Kaleidoscope Careers.
