For a decade, Jean Franczyk led the Chicago Botanic Garden as President and CEO, guiding one of the world’s premier botanic institutions while welcoming more than 1.3 million visitors each year. Under her leadership, the Garden became a center for conservation, science, and public engagement, grounded in the belief that people and nature thrive together.

Through the Negaunee Institute for Plant Conservation Science and Action, Jean advanced the Garden’s global leadership in plant science, from seed bank initiatives that safeguard biodiversity to research that informs habitat restoration. Her work demonstrates that public gardens are beautiful spaces and active laboratories, classrooms, and civic institutions with a responsibility to build stronger communities.

Closer to home, initiatives like Windy City Harvest exemplify how the Garden can grow opportunity from the ground up, training a new generation of conservation leaders while expanding access to fresh, healthy food across Chicago.

Jean’s leadership embodies the spirit of the Gerald W. Adelmann Conservation Leadership Award. She shows that when gardens invest in people as much as plants, they cultivate landscapes, communities, and civic life that flourish together.