Sport Oregon Adds Nathan Nayman to Organization

Sport Oregon has hired Nathan Nayman to lead its external affairs efforts.

Nayman is a senior professional who moved to Portland in 2018 after decades in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has had an extensive career with Visa and as an association executive with both the Committee on Jobs and the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California. He most recently served as a strategic community engagement advisor to the Portland Diamond Project, the management group seeking to bring a Major League Baseball team to Portland.

“Nathan has had solid experiences in forging public policy, as an association executive and external affairs strategist, that have all resulted in strong, trusted relationships,” Sport Oregon President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Etzel said. “As our organization continues its rapid growth, our emphasis on external relations as well as civic strategy, community engagement and coalition building are the skills that Nathan brings to the table.”

With appointments by California Governor Gavin Newsom and former Governor Jerry Brown, Nayman has served on the Board of Directors and Public Policy Committee of the California Workforce Development Board, Jefferson Awards Foundation Students in Action and the John Burton Advocates for Youth, a statewide non-profit organization working to improve the quality of life for foster, former foster, and homeless youth.

“As a big sports fan and a believer in all the benefits sports bring, I am looking forward to working with Jim and his dynamic team to further the mission of Sport Oregon,” said Nayman. “Besides the economic and job creation engine that sports generate, its role in working with youth and in particular those in underserved communities to help develop leadership skills is a core value I share with the organization.”