The Alaska Raptor Center in Sitka is looking for a new director. Jennifer Cross, who’s run the organization for the last seven years, is stepping down this week (Friday, March 9), and the board is hoping to find someone with her qualities – or at least the “Alaska Factor” – to take her place.

Running a nonprofit, and one of the state’s largest tourist venues, is not easy. And apparently Jennifer Cross has done it well.

“Ideally, it would be great if Jen had a twin that we could hire and put in the center there,” said 

Roger Hames, chair of the board of the Alaska Raptor Center.

“She’s been dynamic and in so many ways to manage the growth of where we are today.”

The Alaska Raptor Center has been on a growth trajectory over the last few years, with gross receipts of over $2 million in 2021, double the income from 2018. Hames says that the center’s new director will benefit from some momentum.

“Jen’s impact was significant to the point where what she has put in place will carry on for many, many months, if not a few years,” Hames said, “before anyone else gets up to speed and comes in and wants to be the leader of the of the Raptor Center.”

Hames says that Cross’s principal legacy will be a master plan called Vision 2040. The document outlines millions of dollars in potential investment over the next two decades, to support care of the birds, develop the campus facilities, build housing for seasonal staff and for visiting researchers, and improve the flow of visitors around the center.

Hames says the record numbers of cruise visitors over the last two summers brought not just increased revenues, but also brought a reckoning of sorts.

“It has presented a lot of problems that come along with that, when you just have a tremendous amount of people that show up throughout the day, even with trying to manage the times of buses coming and so forth,” said Hames. “And I know that Jen and her staff had to make some modifications this year to accommodate what is going to be another banner year for visitors.”

The board of the Raptor Center has contracted with a national recruitment firm to search for Cross’s replacement. They’ve budgeted for a 90-day search. Hames, who has significant experience hiring on other nonprofit boards, as well as in his own business, says if they can’t duplicate Cross, at least they’ll want someone with what he calls the “Alaska Factor.” 

“Whether they like it here, or whether they don’t like it here, or if they have a spouse or significant other that they bring with them  and they come and maybe that person doesn’t like it here – it puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the person you’ve hired,” Hames said. “It’s kind of a roll of the dice unless they’re familiar with, or working somewhere in Alaska currently. It makes it easier.”

Jennifer Cross’s last full-time day at the Alaska Raptor Center is March 9. She’s agreed to work on an interim basis until her successor has been hired.

The Alaska Raptor Center has been helping rehabilitate wild birds since 1980. In honor of their 40th anniversary, the center is hosting a virtual fundraiser in place of their annual, in-person gala. Executive Director Jennifer Cross and Avian Director Jennifer Cedarleaf joined KCAW News Director Robert Woolsey on the Morning Interview to talk about the anniversary and the upcoming fundraising events.

The center’s 40th Anniversary Gala is happening online everyday this week, with new uploads at 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday-Thursday, and a special live reveal 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 27. See the daily uploads on the Alaska Raptor Center Facebook page, or online at the Alaska Raptor Center website.