Members of The 1,000 support TWS strategic initiatives

The Wildlife Society offered a warm thank you Monday night to members of “The 1,000,” a prestigious group of TWS members who are inspiring other members into action, leading by example and who are committed to ensuring that TWS will be universally recognized as the leader in wildlife science, management and conservation.

More than 100 members of The 1,000 gathered for a reception in their honor at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences during the TWS 23^rd Annual Conference in Raleigh, N.C. These TWS members have made donations of $100 or more to fund special TWS initiatives.

“There’s definitely a passion among these people that just inspires me,” said Ed Thompson, TWS Chief Operating Officer. “I’m hoping that they come away from this event feeling really great about what they’re doing for TWS, and are inspired to encourage others to do the same.”

Nearly 300 members have joined The 1,000 since the program launched in 2014, raising more than $165,000 for a variety of programs that benefit wildlife and TWS members. Members of The 1,000 may either donate unrestricted funds, or else contribute to programs in specific areas such as education, networking or diversity initiatives. Recently, funds from The 1,000 enabled TWS to offer new benefits for younger members: free memberships in the Student Development Working Group and the Early Career Professionals Working Group.

The stars of the evening were the 10 young professionals in the Leadership Institute’s Class of 2016 who joined The 1,000 as a group on Sunday. The TWS Leadership Institute is a one-year program that offers mentoring and leadership training for early-career professionals.

At the conclusion of the event, members joined the Student-Professional Mixer taking place in the museum.

Learn more about The 1,000.