Meet Chloe Chelz | Executive Director, Pelican Harbor Seabird Station

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chloe Chelz and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chloe, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I grew up in Kansas in a small college town set within the tall grass prairie of the Flint Hills. My parents both studied art in Chicago and my father taught at a university, so we had summers off to take cross country camping trips and visit many museums and historical sites of interest as well as many National Parks. My dual interest in art and the environment stemmed from these early experiences, and my winding career path has led me on a similarly varied trajectory, hopscotching between both the humanities and sciences.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I was recently promoted to Executive Director at Pelican Harbor Seabird Station, Miami’s premier native wildlife hospital and education center. This role is the culmination of a dream to be involved with the well-being of animals, which I kind of arrived at through a side door. Starting as a volunteer during Covid, I took a leap and made a big career change, from Office Director at Rene Gonzalez Architects, where I worked for nearly a decade, to this environmental non-profit organization. I am known for sometimes pulling the table cloth out from under my routine and making big changes. This can be scary, but also thrilling; never easy, but often necessary. IPHSS is going through a huge transition to expand our services with the construction of a new building in the area of the Little River, which will allow us to treat more animals and welcome the community for much more on-site educational programming. It is a very exciting juncture and we have an amazing team. I am working on creating my own narrative and realizing that when something seems scary, it is up to me to instead ask how a new challenge can bring out the best in me. Trust yourself and follow your heart, even if you don’t know where it is leading you, because in retrospect, the dots will connect.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Restaurants:
Fiorito – This Argentinian restaurant in Little River/Little Haiti is consistently good and has a great vibe and staff. I take everyone there and it was also the site of my epic 50th birthday last year.

Michael’s Genuine – The OG of the Design District. I flew from New York for the day to interview for my first job here, with Design Miami. We had lunch at Michael’s and I moved here two weeks later, so it holds a special place in my heart, as do their bulletproof Manhattans!

Arts:
Visit to my friend Johanna Boccardo’s studio. She is an artist with an amazing mastery of color, who also organizes group events to collaborate on various art projects. Her plays with geometry, texture, and pigment are both seductive and very fun.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Justine Velez, partner at Urban Robot. When I moved to Miami 15 years ago, Justine and I were set up on a blind ‘friend date’ by a mutual contact. We hit it off immediately and she continues to be a close confidante and source of inspiration. She is a supremely talented landscape architect, and with her husband and two other business partners, runs a boutique design firm specializing in architecture, interiors, landscape, and urban design.

Website: https://www.pelicanharbor.org

Instagram: @seabirdstation

Linkedin: Pelican Harbor Seabird Station

Twitter: @seabirdstation

Facebook: Pelican Harbor Seabird Station

Youtube: @seabirdstation

Image Credits
Pelican Harbor Seabird Station