Flamingos, zebras, and accounting – oh my!
But when told that another zoo’s website calls zebras “sturdy, spirited … a study in contrasts—willful and playful, social and standoffish, resilient and vulnerable,” Mendoza, 55, opens up. “All of that captures elements of myself. I am reserved and have a thoughtful, deliberate approach,” she says. “I have a ‘pick myself up when knocked down’ attitude.”
That grit has served her well over two decades of increasing responsibility at one of the nation’s largest nonprofit zoos, an institution that is home to 3,000 animals, has 1.4 million annual visitors, and saw nearly $45 million in 2022 revenues. Since starting as the zoo’s controller in 2003, Mendoza has faced and mastered challenges ranging from solving budgetary woes, crushing a COVID-19-induced financial crisis, and helping conduct layoffs during the 2008 financial crisis.
Far more than a numbers analyst, she spearheads growth and promotes the vision for the zoo’s future. Two capital campaigns Mendoza helped carry out and numerous other capital projects raised more than $100 million over the past 15 years. She is helping lead the 61-year-old zoo’s most extensive single project ever, constructing a $20 million veterinary medical center and simultaneously shepherding what might be its most ambitious undertaking—the proposed 1,120-acre Sahuarita Conservation Park 135 miles south of Phoenix.
“She is an amazing individual. She brings so much energy and enthusiasm to her job,” says zoo President and CEO Bert Castro, who promoted Mendoza to CFO in 2007 and to COO in 2021. Today, Mendoza is engaged in all the zoo’s revenue-generating opportunities while overseeing the planning and the zoo’s master plan.
“I saw that she was being underutilized. Now she’s my right-hand person,” says Castro. “I feel secure knowing Bonnie’s holding down the fort when I’m out and about. She brings tremendous competency to her job.”
Long-time zoo board member Harry Papp minces no words about Mendoza. “She’s the best nonprofit COO in Arizona,” says Papp, a managing partner at investment management firm L. Roy Papp & Associates. “When you give her a project, it will get done. If we talk about taking a hill, we will take that hill. It’s going to happen. She’s been completely successful at every assignment she’s taken on.”
“She is as sharp as they come,” adds Castro. “With her at the helm, the zoo is sitting very nicely financially.”
ASU roots
As a newcomer at ASU, Mesa, Arizona, native Mendoza remembers being overwhelmed socially but not academically. Though she came from a high school with 3,000 students, she was shocked to be among the hundreds in Olivas’ introductory class. “He was very warm. I almost felt like he was one of my uncles,” she recalls.
Soon the shy first-year student became the HBSA’s treasurer, then its vice president, and finally its president. “People gravitated to her. They saw her leadership skills,” recalls Olivas, who has been the group’s faculty advisor for more than 30 years.
As president, Mendoza, a commuter student on a scholarship, overhauled the group’s financials. She reorganized its budget statements and published them monthly so all members could regularly review them. According to Olivas, she gave the group’s accounting procedures greater transparency and accountability. To this day, the HBSA follows her templates.
She also got involved with the ASU Student Foundation. There she met another critical influencer—Neil Giuliano, the student foundation’s faculty advisor and future mayor of Tempe, where she now lives. He inspired her and other students to seek leadership roles and give back to the community.
“He set a tone for me,” Mendoza recalls. “He wanted us to be engaged. He told us, ‘Don’t stand in the back of the room. Take on responsibilities in different things that mean something to you.’ ” She has since played key roles in local charity boards including the East Valley Boys Service Club and Florence Crittenton of Phoenix.
Mendoza and her husband, Arnold Mejia, the finance director at the Gila River Indian Community Utility Authority, have influenced their sons’ careers. Four attended ASU: Vince (BS Accountancy ’16), Alex (BS Accountancy ’18), and Jacob (BS Accountancy ’20). Max (BS Biochemistry ’23) broke the mold, and Mendoza’s stepson, Daniel, is a tradesperson.
I am reserved and have a thoughtful, deliberate approach. I have a ‘pick myself up when knocked down’ attitude.
(BS Accountancy ’89)
Facing financial odds
“We desperately needed funds,” says Castro. Immediately, Mendoza sought emergency federal monies to replace missing visitor revenue. “It was all-consuming,” she says. Less than 20 days later, she had navigated the federal government’s application maze and won $2.8 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans. Then Mendoza found the zoo another $13.3 million in tax credits and shuttered venue grants.
“We’re scrappy here in the zoo world. We all kept a positive attitude. No one gave in,” she says.
“Bonnie has a sense of urgency about getting things done,” says the zoo’s chief administrative officer, Christine Lowery-Nunez. “She was instrumental in getting that financial support and did it alone. She made sure we stayed afloat financially.” Papp is more succinct: “She was all over it,” he says.
That wasn’t the first time Mendoza came to the zoo’s financial rescue. Within months of coming on board in 2003, she realized it had a cash-flow problem. Visitor numbers slumped during the summer, and because no funds had been set aside for continuing operations, the zoo had to dip into money the board had set aside for conservation. Mendoza applied for a line of credit. Eighteen months later, expenses came in line.
“We were in good shape again, and we’ve never turned back,” she says. “We have been careful to spend within our means. We start capital campaign projects only when we have 75% of their cost committed, and we prioritize projects based on animal welfare, safety, and other critical needs.” The zoo is debt-free, in part due to Mendoza’s disciplined spending initiatives. “That may postpone expansion plans,” she admits. “Ultimately, however, this should ensure our longevity and success.”
She loves that every day at the zoo brings her different challenges.
With data, schedules, and pictures, Mendoza confirmed that the lots were overwhelmed. The result? The city made a multimillion investment for 600 new parking spots, boosting parking by 50%.
“That’s what it took to get the new parking lot built. Our attendance is now through the roof,” says Papp.
Mendoza knows how to get her hands dirty, too. Thanks to the zoo’s weekend manager-on-duty program, she ran the paddleboat concession, where she rented boats and fit guests with life jackets. She cleaned litter boxes and fed the kits in the black-footed ferret breeding area. “Such a neat, neat experience,” she says. She worked in the gift shop and sold raffle tickets. For “Cruise the Zoo” during the COVID-19 lockdown when cars wound their way through outdoor animal enclosures, she directed traffic and sold retail items.
Today, Sahuarita is her next ambitious project. This future conservation park south of Tucson, now in the design/planning stage, will be nearly 10 times the zoo’s size and offer animals including black rhinos, cheetahs, and Arabian oryx for drive-through and walk-up experiences.
Mendoza, who once worked for a land developer, is studying the proposed park’s environmental, waterway, sewage, and tax issues. According to Mendoza, the Columbus Zoo struggled with a similar project, which almost failed. Along with other zoo leaders, she recently flew to Ohio, where they met with its leaders to learn from their mistakes.
“I just want to keep learning more,” she says. Asked if she is tempted to leave the zoo, she admits that the thought crossed her mind early on, but no longer. “I’ve always had a passion for nonprofits. I’m just really happy here,” she says.