Growing up in Kalamazoo Township’s Northwood neighborhood, Heather Graves (nee Knotts) was a stone’s throw from the Kalamazoo Nature Center and naturally spent a bit of time there.
“Our house was just south of the Markin Glen campground entrance. Of course, it wasn’t a campground then.
It was just open space with ponds and field and forest,” the 54-year-old recalls. “That was a time when kids literally left the house at daybreak and didn’t come back until the streetlights came on, so my sister and I and the neighborhood kids would explore all along the Kalamazoo River and the railroad tracks and just be out in the wild.”
It’s safe to say that since she came aboard as the KNC’s CEO last August, Graves is probably spending a lot more time at the Nature Center now than she did as a child.
“But the feel and the magic and the beauty and the wonder are all still here,” she says.
How did you get where you are today?
I graduated from Parchment High School and went to Kalamazoo Valley Community College. I worked two jobs and went to school at the same time, so I did four years at Valley and got my associate’s degree and transferred to Western (Michigan University) and graduated in December 1996.
While I was at Western, I worked for the YMCA, in its before- and after-school programs, and was offered a full-time position. I did that for a couple years and had an opportunity to take on an executive role at the YMCA in Jacksonville, Florida. After about four years, I moved out to Colorado Springs, where Eric (her college boyfriend and now husband) was and secured a position with the YMCA there.
The Y is really where I learned the business leadership side of a nonprofit. I also started to work with marginalized, historically excluded communities and with health care partners, securing a grant to make the YMCA in Colorado Springs a presumptive eligibility site to approve people applying for government-funded insurance, to help take the backlog off the Department of Human Services.
I then started making my way into the health care space, moving over to hospital health care, working in the area of access. I went to work in public health and worked on mom/baby health, suicide prevention, attainable and affordable housing, and substance use disorder and addiction. But Covid was so politicized that I found myself caught in the bureaucracy of managing the political aspects of that and not really being able to serve.
An executive director position opened up at Catamount Institute, an environmental education center, and I applied, got the position, and got back into my nonprofit roots. I loved it.
I had been away from Kalamazoo for just over 25 years — my family’s still here and my husband’s family is still in Michigan. In 2023, we decided we wanted to be connected with family and reconnect to a community that aligns with our personal and professional values. When I saw the CEO position for the Kalamazoo Nature
Center, I applied, and it was a very rigorous, arduous search and interview process. And I had the honor and privilege of taking the position.
How has the KNC changed since you came here as a kid?
Some things have not changed. Education, conservation and research are still the cornerstones of what we do. I think the physical appearance has changed significantly over the years, as far as the aesthetics and really paying attention to native over invasive species. There’s been tremendous effort to restore and protect the native biodiversity and try to eradicate the invasives.
We’ve also grown a lot. We were one of the first nature centers in the country. We’re unique because we are not funded by a government or municipal entity but through private donors, fee-for-service grants, family foundation grants and those types of things. My predecessors really set us up to be a self-sustaining organization with the animal care programs, education and research.
What challenges does the KNC face?
Our Visitor Center is going on 65 years old. We are committed to keeping the integrity of the building and our grounds, and that’s a challenge because the upkeep of an older building is just harder. At the same time, we have about 1,500 acres that also need to be maintained.
Fundraising is also a challenge, especially in a community that has several nonprofits going for the same dollars. We have to be concise and consistent about our mission and the benefits of nature so that funders are interested and see the value in what we do.
In a time of more devices that divert our attention, how does the Nature Center stay relevant?
We strive to meet people where they are and connect them to nature for their first experience and keep them engaged with the natural world for life. You don’t have to be a scientist or expert to come here. We just want you to come. We have folks that engage in our programs that maybe do hold a Ph.D. in earth science or conservation, but we also have people that come who are afraid of bugs or don’t like dirt and they don’t feel safe. We want to provide a safe space for whatever level you are at. And we hope that in that time, whether it’s through an innovative program or an experience, that you will develop a connection to nature and that you’ll want to engage deeper and grow that connection in your relationship with nature for mental health, emotional health, physical health and for care of our planet and natural world.
— Interview by Marie Lee, edited for length and clarity
