In her role as Deputy Director, Cynthia Johnson Haruyama has managed the Cultural Crossing campaign from its inception, oversees implementation of the Strategic Plan, managed the start-up and launch of the International Japanese Garden Training Center, liaises between the Garden and City bureaus, and is currently working on several new long-term initiatives.

She also serves as the Japanese Garden’s representative to the Explore Washington Park Board of Directors in the role of Board Vice President.
Previously, Haruyama has been in senior management positions for several of Portland’s public gardens. She served as the Executive Director of Lan Su Chinese Garden (2008 – 2012) and earlier she was Executive Director for Hoyt Arboretum (2001 – 2008). At both gardens, her first task was financial turn-around followed by a focus on visitor experience, long-range planning, capital renewal and replacement, and Board development. At both Lan Su Garden and Hoyt Arboretum, Haruyama re-started moribund fund development programs and raised significant funds for annual operations and major capital projects.
Haruyama’s interest in non-profit management and public gardens began after practicing corporate and business law with Davis Wright Tremaine followed by her role as General Manager and Sales Director for garden equipment manufacturer, A.M. Andrews Co.

In 2001, she and her family lived for a year in her husband’s hometown of Kagoshima, Japan and travelled extensively in Japan, especially in southern Kyushu. Throughout her time in Japan, Haruyama visited many of Japan’s famed gardens, and observed regional variations in gardens ranging from Kyoto to Kyushu and the Ryukyu islands. Haruyama graduated with honors in East Asian Studies from Princeton University. Her law degree is from Columbia University in New York.