To some at Columbus Zoo, Never Quit winner is ‘matriarch of our herd’

To Mindi Scott, a zookeeper at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, her job is not just a job. It’s much more than that. 

“A big part of why zoos exist are to save endangered species,” Scott says. “We love these animals as individuals. We care about building a herd for the future. And a big part of that is connecting them with our guests.” 

When Scott started college, her original career choice was veterinarian, she says. But she ended up at the zoo with a summer job in the gift shop. The more time she spent at the zoo, the more she fell in love with the place. 

“I decided that instead of becoming a veterinarian, I wanted to take care of these amazing animals on a daily basis,” she says. 

Today, Scott is known among her colleagues as someone who gives her all. Laura McGlothlin, curator of Asia Quest, says Scott is passionate about educating the public and helping protect the animal species at risk. 

“She’s just always had this passion for letting people know more about these animals and the struggle that they face in the wild and what they can do about it,” McGlothlin says. 

To Tea Hurst, a fellow zookeeper, Scott has been a mentor.  

“So starting out as a young keeper, Mindi has been a mom to us,” Hurst says. “She’s the matriarch of our herd.” 

For her service to her community, Scott, a member of AFSCME Local 2950 (Ohio Council 8), is a winner of our union’s Never Quit Service Award. The award recognizes public service workers who go above and beyond the call of duty to make their communities better. 

Thanks to the hard work of employees at the Columbus Zoo, the zoo’s goal of building a herd of elephants will soon become a reality. One elephant at the zoo gave birth on July 23, and another elephant is pregnant. 

“We’re all here to make a connection with guests and to help endangered animals,” Scott says. “We need to make that connection. We have to help people care about them.”