The Saint Louis Zoo has promoted long-time employee and community leader Cassandra Brown Ray to chief financial officer, making her the first African-American and the first female to hold the position in the zoo’s history. She also serves as a vice president.
Ray joined the zoo in 1992 as a staff accountant, and most recently served as the controller and director of finance, a role she held since 1999. She also works closely with the governance of the Saint Louis Zoo, including the audit, investment and finance committees.
Her work in the community includes serving on the Francis Howell School District Finance and Operations Committee, the Audit Committee of the National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation and the St. Patrick Center board of trustees. She is a graduate of FOCUS Leadership St. Louis, and a member of the inaugural class of the FOCUS Impact Fellows, a team charged with developing and implementing an action plan, using the 2015 Ferguson Commission Report as a guideline.
Ray earned her MBA from Lindenwood University and her undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Missouri–Columbia. Before joining the zoo, she worked for General Dynamics and McDonnell Douglas.
