Wild Tomorrow’s Ambassadors bring their incredible and undeniable passions, talents, and support to help us achieve our mission to save wildlife and wild spaces. We are so delighted to welcome the two newest additions to our team of ambassadors, Hayley and John Rocco!

*Hayley and John Rocco with two of their upcoming books,* ***Wild Places: The Life of Naturalist David Attenborough*** *and* ***Hello! I’m a Pangolin.*** *Both set to be released in 2024.*

Meet Hayley and John Rocco. They have an indisputable eagerness to help save wildlife and wild spaces, and they don’t stop there. They put their passion into action by creating books to share their research such as writing conservation-focused children’s books (including their upcoming book, Wild Places: The Life of Naturalist David Attenborough).

Both Hayley and John connected deeply with Wild Tomorrow’s work after a google search led Hayley to sign up for our conservation experience trip in South Africa last year. Wild Tomorrow’s mission is important to them because they, like the team at Wild Tomorrow, want to personally take urgent action to save our planet. Their creative talents help to inform people, specifically children, on the challenges wildlife and our planet are facing, the incredible work that is being done to protect threatened species, and how to fight for our collective futures.

John Rocco is a #1 NYTimes bestselling author and illustrator of many acclaimed books for children including Blackout, the recipient of a Caldecott Honor, and How We Got to the Moon, which received a Robert. F. Sibert Honor and was longlisted for the National Book Award. Prior to becoming a children’s book author, John served as a creative director in the entertainment industry for several companies including DreamWorks and Walt Disney Imagineering.

CHECK OUT JOHN ROCCO'S WORK

John’s partner in crime (and in marriage!), Hayley Rocco, is a talented children’s book author with over 15 years of experience as a children’s book publicist for several major houses. Her first collaboration with her husband, How to Send a Hug, was just the start! She has five books launching in 2024 including Wild Places: The Life of Naturalist David Attenborough; and three of the first four books in Meet the Wild Things, a new series introducing young readers to endangered animals including Hello, I’m a Pangolin, Hello, I’m a Sloth, and Hello, I’m a Quokka.

CHECK OUT HAYLEY ROCCO'S WORK

Together, Hayley and John have formed the Children’s Book Creators for Conservation (CBCC)— a collective group of children’s book authors and illustrators who share a love of the planet, support conservation efforts, and believe that protecting biodiversity and re-wilding our planet is essential for a better tomorrow. Their mission is to partner with conservation organizations, like Wild Tomorrow, and use their creative storytelling skills to amplify their work and make lasting connections with young readers.

As storytellers and illustrators, Hayley and John’s skills heavily impact the young minds that read their books, as well as their families. They stress that a collective effort is imperative to achieve our mission, especially for the younger generations. By advocating this through their books and personal lives, readers will be empowered to learn about what is happening on our planet and how they can help. By covering topics such as fascinating yet endangered animals, the importance of conserving wild spaces, and tips and tools for getting involved in conservation, Hayley and John are ultimately helping young people make a connection between themselves and the world around them to create a better future for all living things.

A rescued, rehabilitated and released pangolin. Photograph by Hayley Rocco.

We first met Hayley and John when Hayley was doing background research for a children’s book on pangolins (that is set to be released in the summer of 2024). In a few Google searches about pangolins, Hayley happened upon our blog post – Pioneering Pangolins, and immediately got in touch. Fast forward a mere 3 months, Hayley was together with our team on the ground in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa taking part in one of our biannual Conservation Experience Trips! And the best part? She got to see a pangolin in real life! Hayley recounts, “Seeing a pangolin and meeting with the professionals who care for them provided me with invaluable information for my research. I learned so much—so many new and developing facts about pangolins I never would have discovered in a book or online.”

Hayley’s two-week volunteer trip with Wild Tomorrow last year, which was her first time visiting Africa, left an everlasting impact on her: “Seeing these giant, magnificent creatures [elephants] living in the wild was more powerful than I could ever have imagined. So much so, it brought me to tears. I had no idea the profound impact that moment would have on me and I’ll never forget it... I never felt I knew my place in the grand scheme of things until I experienced Africa. From ringing birds for conservation research, to the dehorning of rhinos, helping out at the rhino orphanage…and then having the chance to follow along with a pangolin—an actual, real-live pangolin—was all so surreal. I’ll treasure those moments for the rest of my life.”

Hayley and John’s individual interactions with wildlife have truly impacted their lives, desires, and actions to be part of positive change for our planet. John shares that the traumatic experience of his home being burglarized back in 2015 left him feeling understandably shaken. But the following day, as he accompanied a friend to a ranch in the Santa Monica mountains, he met Stanley, an 18-foot tall, reticulated giraffe. After climbing the tower next to Stanley’s paddock, cautiously standing still as the giraffe wandered towards him, what happened next left a profound impact on John: “Suddenly he rested his massive, and powerful, head on my shoulder. I can’t explain the sense of calm that came over me. For ten minutes I stood there as he nuzzled my neck as if he knew I needed some consoling. It was an incredible experience that I will never forget.”

Both of their stories are powerful and many of us at Wild Tomorrow can relate to the impact animals make on our lives and our determination to do what we can to help.

Hayley and John feel thrilled to join Wild Tomorrow’s team of Ambassadors to champion the work we do and to continue being an integral part of saving wildlife and its habitat, sharing their passion and drive with as many people as they can. And as the cherry on top of the cake, in 2023, CBCC will be partnering with Wild Tomorrow to embark on the first volunteer trip with 9 CBCC members with the hope of bringing back stories from the wild to share with young readers. We couldn’t be more honored to bring them on board!

MEET THE ROCCOS, OUR NEWEST AMBASSADORS