Brittinie Ontiveros

Brittinie Ontiveros is the Community Programs manager for the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. In this role, she has the opportunity to develop, implement, and supervise all onsite programs for students grades K-8th. As part of her job, she is able to work with their animal ambassadors and connect them to those in her community. Brittinie spent most of her life in North Texas where she also attended college. She then moved to six different states in eight years and landed in Colorado. After beginning her career in formalized early childhood education, she decided to return to school to earn a second degree in child development.

Brittinie was able to spend a summer as a Summer camp mentor. After spending her first summer in a non-formal education setting, she knew that is where she was supposed to be! She then worked her way up in the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo by working as an Early Childhood Mentor Specialist, Office Assistant, Office Administrator and now in her current position as the Community Programs Supervisor.

Her favorite part of her job is connecting the guests with both the animal wildlife and wild places. She has the ability to create connections between young children and animals in a way that is unmatched in a formal education setting. She says “there Is nothing more comparable to watching a child grow to become an advocate for our wild world”.