Lisa Christy, executive director of Portland Japanese Garden, and Aki Nakanishi, director of Japan Institute and the Arlene Schnitzer curator of culture, art, and education for Portland Japanese Garden, have been named co-CEOs of Portland Japanese Garden and Japan Institute, the organization’s board of trustees announced in a statement.
Together, they will oversee a nonprofit public garden and cultural organization that has been hailed as the most beautiful and authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan and one of North America’s preeminent Japanese cultural organizations.
In their co-CEO roles, Christy will oversee the garden’s administrative and operational functions, including guest experience, finance, and organizational management, while Nakanishi will lead programmatic and cultural oversight, guiding the garden’s educational, and cultural initiatives and stewarding its Japanese and bi-cultural integrity. The leaders will work together on fundraising and mapping out the strategic vision for the organization.
This innovative leadership model is fitting for a bi-cultural organization such as Portland Japanese Garden and was specifically tailored based on the significant, unique, and complementary experiences of Christy and Nakanishi.
Christy spent 15 years in business working in advertising — including at the prestigious agency Wieden+Kennedy. She joined the garden in 2014 as director of marketing and communications. She later served as chief external affairs officer and then executive director before being appointed co-CEO in 2026.
Nakanishi joined Portland Japanese Garden in 2018 as the Arlene Schnitzer curator of culture, art, and education and also served as director of Japan Institute, the Garden’s cultural and programmatic arm. Prior to these roles, he spent ten years at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, where he led cultural initiatives advancing U.S. — Japan relations while also founding a nonprofit organization dedicated to regional revitalization and youth empowerment.