Last month marked the first anniversary of Jo Shaw becoming our new CEO at Save the Rhino International. In a membership exclusive, we caught up with Jo to find out about her exciting first year!
Hello Jo! Happy one year anniversary! Our Members would love to know how your passion for rhinos began and how it led you to Save the Rhino?
Thank you. It’s been the most wonderful year! I have always been very passionate about animals. After school I joined a volunteer programme helping with ecological surveys in Zimbabwe, where I had an amazing close encounter with a black rhino (this was when their numbers were at their lowest). Their power and magnificence sparked a change in the course of my life. After finishing my biological sciences degree I was so inspired by a Save the Rhino talk, I wrote a letter asking if I could volunteer with the team. After volunteering for a while I gained the job of Office Manager. As I slowly became more involved, I realised that I was really enthusiastic about continuing my studies in the field and so I moved to South Africa in 2001.
It must be a lovely, full-circle moment to have beginning your career as a volunteer at Save the Rhino to then return as CEO. Do you have any tips for Members interested in a career in conservation?
It’s important to find and embrace your passion and get stuck in! Get as much experience as you can and make it as wide and as varied as possible. Like many disciplines, conservation takes all kinds of different skillsets and though a scientific education is important there are other paths you can take. You need to be a good communicator if you want to change and influence people’s behaviour and an understanding of policy, budgets and fundraising are also valuable skills. Please keep an eye out for future top tips!
We would love to know about your first year as CEO. What have been your favourite moments since joining last July?
It’s been a whirlwind year with many highlights- getting to know our lovely team, supporters from all over the world, and the amazing people in the field that we work with. It’s incredibly exciting to meet all these rhino networks and in a few instances reconnect with people from many years ago. Celebrating Save the Rhino’s 30th birthday and reaching the incredible milestone of £30 million in grants makes me feel very honoured to be able to play a part in this organisation. Of course, the London Marathon is always a momentous day. This year Rhino Boy Chris Green completed his 100th costumed marathon and the rhino wheelchair costume completed its first event. To see our amazing fundraisers, getting such love and support for achieving something incredible, is really special.
It must be amazing to connect with and visit our incredible field partners. Can you share with us one of your favourite photos you have taken in the past year?
The photo above was taken in Kenya in January, when I was very fortunate to visit our field partners. It was an incredible opportunity to spend time in this beautiful landscape. It was particularly exciting to see Kenya Wildlife Service and their many partners coordinating the release of 21 founder rhinos into a new population at Loisaba Conservancy. It’s just wonderful to see the collaboration that goes on between so many people – it’s always an awe inspiring sight to observe.
Finally – big question – what are your hopes for your second year as CEO?
We’ve been having a really exciting time looking at Save the Rhino as an organisation and our plans for the next five years and beyond. I’m looking forward to sharing our vision for our future. We also hope to have some very exciting news on some new project funding coming our way very soon, so watch this space!
Any final words for our members?
Thank you so much for the amazing support that you show us and the interest that you show in rhinos. I look forward to sharing more rhino updates with you soon!