After a nationwide search, Denver Botanic Gardens today announced its next CEO.

Donna McGinnis currently leads Naples Botanical Garden on Florida’s Gulf Coast. She will start Feb. 2. While she has tried growing orchids at home, which are notoriously finicky, her expertise is in museum fundraising and diversifying visitorship.

McGinnis succeeds the late Brian Vogt, who died of cancer in March at age 66. He had helmed Denver’s gardens since 2007 and oversaw impressive growth in facilities, visitors, and members. The institution counted nearly 1.5 million visitors in 2024, with nearly 60,000 members.

“I was lucky enough to know him as a colleague and a friend,” McGinnis told CPR’s Colorado Matters. “Those are big shoes to fill.”

How does she plan to fill them? Below are five takeaways fro

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