Born and raised in Portland, Oregon. She moved to Bend in the early 1970's. Lesley attended the University of Oregon where she majored in Art. Lesley and her husband Matt were married in 1985 and have four children. Lesley grew up taking care of various different farm animals and native wildlife. Through the years she has been a major part in fundraising for local charities. Lesley started Chimps Inc. in 1995 with the arrival of Topo and is proud to be able to offer permanent homes to chimpanzees and big cats.

Julie was born and raised in Oregon. She grew up around animals and developed a passion for animal welfare at a young age. She worked as a project coordinator and opened the first NIKETOWN, in Portland, Oregon. She continued to work with NIKE as the event coordinator and implemented trade shows and shoe launches. She then directed her event planning talents toward various nonprofit organizations. She spent 4 years with Jesuit High School as the auction chair; started the annual fundraiser for the Children's Cancer Association and coordinated it for 4 years; started the annual fund raising luncheon for St. Andrew Nativity School as well as for St. Mary's Home for Boys. Julie joined the Chimps Inc. board in 2009.

Zelia (Nauer) Flannery moved to the United States after being educated in Canada. She spent most of her career life as a statistician for Hewlett Packard, Dymec Division. She has been a prominent figure for many local charities including the President of the Rotary Club of Bend 1994-1995; founding member of the Rotary Club of Bend Foundation; served on the KIDS Center Board of Directors from 1992-2006 and is one of the Founding members of Chimps Inc.

Attended University of Washington where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. After becoming a Certified Public Accountant, she worked in public accounting for Ernst & Young in Seattle and New Orleans. Having a strong business and financial background, Arianna was hired on at SafeRent, Inc. in Denver, Colorado where she was responsible for all financial and accounting duties. In 2005, Arianna moved to Bend, Oregon. Her decision to move was made final when she realized she could combine her financial experience and skills with her lifelong dream to work with chimpanzees. Arianna and her husband, Jay, have two young children, Isabella and Collin.

Karin earned her first degree from the University of Oregon in Sociology and soon followed her passion for helping others and completed a Bachelor's in Nursing from Linfield College. Karin, her husband, and son have lived in Bend since 2005 where she has dedicated herself to the field of nursing and community involvement. With interests ranging from running marathons for charity to volunteering on the board at Bend Spay and Neuter she is eager to direct her creative energy and compassion to a new partnership with the Chimps, Inc. board.

Chris grew up outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania but has lived in Oregon off and on since the mid-70s.  She obtained a Masters in Social Work at the University of Hawaii in 1976 and later earned her law degree from Lewis & Clark Law School.  Chris practiced in Portland for many years, first at the firm of Stoel, Rives and later with Nike, Inc.  Her last post with Nike was in Hong Kong, heading up Nike's legal team for Asia Pacific where she was exposed to and worked across many different cultures.  She and her husband moved to Central Oregon full time a year ago and reside just around the corner from the sanctuary.  She hopes to support the outstanding work being done at  Chimps, Inc. in any way she can and to provide particular support in the area of animal rights which is at the core of the organization's mission.  

Jennifer was born in San Francisco and raised in San Rafael where she spent many hours taking care of various rescue pets, emulating her mother's passion for animal welfare.  A graduate from Washington State University, Jennifer pursued her education in sociology while simultaneously volunteering all four years for the Pullman Junior Chamber of Commerce where she held several board positions and received recognition from the International Junior Chamber President at the time.  Jennifer continued her volunteer work for the next 15 years while building a professional career in event, program, and association management.  Jennifer’s previous professional positions include personnel director for Staff Pro Events, director of member services, subsequently director of operations for the Northern California Engineering Contractors Association and director of the San Rafael Chamber Leadership Institute.  Jennifer brings 20 years of event and program management to the table and hopes that her recent training in board leadership development, team building and grant writing can be put to good use.  But most importantly, she is excited to be working for the welfare of animals and the chimpanzees she bonded with while completing a two month animal husbandry internship here at Chimps Inc.  

Kendal grew up in Maryland where she earned her business administration degree from Towson University. Kendal relocated to Oregon 15 years ago and in 2012 she and her husband, Jon made Central Oregon their home. Kendal serves as the Director of Sales and Marketing at Black Butte Ranch where she is responsible for all advertising and marketing for the Ranch operations. She oversees all marketing projects, special marketing events, resort lodging packages and promotions, website design and content, press and public relations, placement of online and offline media, implementation of promotional campaigns, printing and design of all collateral materials and group sales efforts. Prior to joining Black Butte Ranch, Kendal was the advertising director for a media company in Klamath Falls where she was instrumental in producing a fundraising video for the Klamath Animal Shelter. She also served as Marketing Director for the Running Y Ranch, managing major real estate and operational marketing campaigns. Kendal carries a great love of animals with her and is an ardent supporter of Chimps Inc. 

She was born in 1934 in London, England and is known as the most famous chimpanzee expert in the world. A colleague of anthropologist Louis Leakey in Kenya in the late 1950's she began studying chimpanzees. She received a Ph.D. from Cambridge University for her work and remained at the research center she founded in Gombe, Tanzania, until 1975. In 1977 she cofounded the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education, and Conservation in the U.S. Her observations established, among other things, that chimpanzees are omnivorous rather than vegetarian, can make and use tools, and have complex and highly developed social behaviors.

For her efforts, Goodall received a great many awards and honors, among them the Gold Medal of Conservation from the San Diego Zoological Society, the J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Prize, the Schweitzer Medal of the Animal Welfare Institute, and the National Geographic Society Centennial Award. Much of Goodall's current work is carried on by the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education, and Conservation, in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Her advocacy of the ethical treatment of animals continues to the current day, and she has even written a children's book, The Chimpanzee Family Book, on the subject.

Goodall wrote a number of books about her experiences with the chimpanzees, including Through a Window (1990); My Life with the Wild Chimpanzees (1988); The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior (1986); In the Shadow of Man (1971); Visions of Caliban: On Chimpanzees and People (1993); Hope for Animals and Their World, 2009; and Jane Goodall - 50 Years at Gombe, 2010. For books that show her work in relation to that of other primatologists, see: Donna Haraway, Primate Visions (1989); Bettyann Kevles' Watching the Great Apes (1976); and Sy Montgomery, Walking with the Great Apes (1991).

Bruce received a Bachelor in Science at Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, in 1979 and then went on to receive another Bachelor of Science degree at Columbia University, School of Nursing in 1981. He is now a partner in the San Francisco office of Schiff Hardin, with an almost exclusive focus on a wide range of animal law cases, as well as education and consultation in the field. He has been practicing law since 1992 and has represented clients in state and federal courts, as well as administrative proceedings. He is the coeditor of Animal Law, the first casebook for animal law courses, which was first published in January 2000. He has taught animal law at University of California, Hastings College of the Law; University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall); Stanford Law School; and University of San Francisco, School of Law.

Attended college in Colorado at the University of Denver where she received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. She then attended Franklin University and University of Oregon for her post graduate work. Central Oregon became her home in 1977 and it's where she built a successful accounting practice that today helps a variety of local nonprofit organizations. Her work as a Certified Public Accountant is what drew her into public service. As a State Senator, Chris has earned the reputation as an intelligent leader, and expert in the financial arena, a colleague to her fellow Legislators, and a strong active voice for her constituents.