Encore Fellow Spotlight: John McNair
John McNair recently completed his Encore Fellowship with the Portland Japanese Garden (PJG). John’s contributions were an extension of his HR and operational expertise gained after almost 30 years at Intel in various HR and Manufacturing roles.
Portland Japanese Garden’s Mission is: Inspiring harmony and peace. The Garden is recognized as the world’s premier Japanese Garden outside of Japan, with 27,000 members, 130 employees, 190 volunteers, six campuses in two countries, and welcomes over 500,000 visitors annually.
As a member of The Garden for over a decade, John was excited to pursue this specific opportunity. “Being able to contribute to The Japanese Garden beyond being a member and making donations was realized through becoming an Encore Fellow. I truly believe in the organization’s mission and vision and I am constantly amazed by the dedication of the staff to achieve it. I can’t imagine a more rewarding experience.”
John started his Encore Fellowship as PJG entered a time of transformation and significant challenges: rebuilding and re-staffing after Covid, the announcement and expansion of the Japanese Institute, senior leadership transitions, introducing a new HR Director, and a shift in talent expectations. “That’s a lot for any organization – especially a non-profit – to absorb and navigate all at once.”
John’s work primarily focused on supporting this transformation focused on operationalizing the PJG Leadership Statement: We the leaders of Portland Japanese Garden strive to provide a nurturing environment grounded in stewardship and rich with opportunity, vision, and trust. We expect passion, shared ownership, and a commitment to excellence.
To that end, John designed and delivered manager workshops, assessed exit interviews, facilitated leadership listening sessions, assisted a learning and development survey, revised manager/employee check-in and annual performance review forms and systems, and consulted with Senior Staff to reboot and leverage existing manager forums including the Kaizen Committee.
John is excited to extend his support of PJG through the fall as a regular volunteer to see current projects through to completion. “I am honored to be more than a dedicated member of The Garden, and I hope I can continue my contributions to one of Portland’s gems far into the future. The Encore Fellowship experience has allowed me to make this happen!”
