Inside the Inaugural Jane Goodall Institute Hope Gala

Dr. Jane Goodall lived an extraordinary life. In 1960, at the age of 26, she traveled from the UK to what is now Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania to study wild chimpanzees. Goodall made the groundbreaking discovery that chimpanzees use tools and have personality and emotional responses to rival humans.

I met Goodall at Climate Week in New York last September, just a week before she died at the age of 91. Sixty-five years after her first trip to Gombe, Goodall remains relentless in spreading her message of hope, raising funds for chimpanzee conservation, and inspiring the next generation of scientists and nature lovers. On Monday evening, the UK branch of the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) hosted a celebration of Goodall’s life – the inaugural Gala of Hope – at London’s Peninsula Hotel to preserve her legacy.

What sustainable fashion can learn from Dr. Jane Goodall

Dr. Jane Goodall dedicated her life to studying wild chimpanzees. A week before her death, zoologists and primatologists worked with fashion business A message about legacy and how she hopes to be remembered.

Dr. Jane Goodall, glorious earth, jewelry, chimpanzees

It’s a campaign designed to tug at people’s heartstrings and open their wallets in the process. The room was arranged to look like a tropical rainforest, and the sounds of Gombe Stream National Park immersed the audience in the habitat they were trying to protect. There is an art exhibition at the entrance by French street artist Mr. Brainwash, and celebrities mingle with financiers and explorers. This approach is not unlike the inaugural Nat Gala during New York Climate Week last September, using culture as a Trojan horse for conservation.

“We are competing with so much noise and we have to connect with people’s emotions,” said Rosemary Reed, trustee and director of strategic partnerships at JGI UK, which organized the event. “You can’t make people care by telling them something; you have to make them feel connected. While we no longer have Jane’s body, we do have her energy, and the many people who were touched by her work.”

I sat down with Reed on the eve of the gala to learn more about the work of JGI, her efforts to build a presence in the UK, and how fashion and beauty can step up to support conservation efforts at this critical time.

Make conservation part of culture

The evening guest list showed how widespread Dr. Goodall’s appeal was. Executives from Disney and National Geographic made appearances, alongside actors including James Nesbitt and Peter Egan, comedian Ricky Gervais, Lord Rumi Vij, founder of Domino’s Pizza UK, and singer Jesse Green. Throughout the evening, JGI featured several beloved leaders to drive home Goodall’s message of hope.

“Despite witnessing environmental loss and human suffering on a global scale, Jane never turned away in despair. Instead, she spoke of what she called her reasons for hope. She believed that hope was not something we wait for, but something we practice and something we choose. It is this belief that has stayed with me, and it also resonates deeply with the mission of the Earthshot Prize,” William, Prince of Wales, said in a pre-recorded video statement. “Even in the most difficult of times, optimism can be a powerful call to action—to find solutions, support those who dare to innovate, and scale change based on the urgent needs of the moment.”