Kathleen Eckert became the Aquarium of the Pacific’s first female board chair at the end of February. Now in her fourth year as a boardmember, Eckert is excitedly focused on the Aquarium’s Pacific Visions expansion and what it means for the institution as an educational resource for the community.

Kathleen Eckert, pictured with Aquarium of the Pacific President and CEO Jerry Schubel, recently became the Aquarium’s first female board chair. She has served on the board since 2014. (Photograph by Caught In The Moment)

 

Eckert is a former marketing executive for Kraft Foods, as well as the former senior vice president of information resources for a marketing research firm. A Palos Verdes resident, Eckert said she hadn’t been too familiar with Long Beach before her friend, Steve Young, an Aquarium boardmember and partner with the Long Beach law firm Keesal Young & Logan, suggested that she join the board. “He just spoke so highly of the cause and of the people who were involved,” she recalled. In her time on the board, the Aquarium’s close relationship with city hall has expanded her knowledge of Long Beach and its community, she said.

 

“One of the things that intrigued me about getting to learn more about this place and then deciding to join the board was the passion of the people who are here,” Eckert said. “On the staff side, of course Jerry [Schubel, president and CEO] is the living manifestation of that. All the board people come from very diverse backgrounds and come to this place with different perspectives, [and] I have learned so much from them. . . . Everyone is very passionate about what they do. It’s always fun to be around people like that,” she reflected.

 

“It’s such a magnet for people to come into the city. Obviously, it’s a beautiful location,” Eckert said of the Aquarium. Last year, the Aquarium had just over 1.7 million visitors and took in about $38 million in revenue, she noted.

 

Eckert said that the Aquarium of the Pacific has been a “trailblazer” in terms of its focus on education, a mission she said resonates with her, personally. “It’s not just a place for the public to learn about the animals and to preserve them and that sort of thing. It’s also a place to teach people about a lot of issues that they might not normally [learn about],” she said. Educational programs range from reduced-rate field trips for school children, a lecture series with world-renowned guest speakers, adult classes and more.

 

The Pacific Visions expansion currently under construction will grow the Aquarium’s educational focus by providing a platform for guests to learn about the impact of humankind’s interactions with the environment. “I think it is going to be an unparalleled experience,” Eckert said of the expansion. “It’s [going to be] such a wonderful teaching tool about the issues surrounding the oceans and the climate and the environment,” she said.