Jan Portman is 'energy source' for Crown trails | Women of the Year
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Jan Portman spends part of nearly every day outside – biking, kayaking, swimming, skiing and walking.
That final activity has helped her land $10 million for Cincinnati's Riding or Walking Network, known as Crown, the trail system that will eventually connect 54 communities over 34 miles.
When she and co-chair and spouse Wym Portman want to educate potential donors about the Crown, she takes them walking.
“We had a great idea that we could show people what it actually might look like,” Portman said.
Friends and family tell Portman she walks fast. She proved them true on a recent afternoon, plunging through Ault Park and Wasson Way paths while telling the Crown story. (She covered more than 9,000 steps in about an hour, by count of the sweaty reporter at her side. Portman herself does not wear a Fitbit.)
But the walks help donors see what the 67-year-old Hyde Park uber-volunteer sees – that a loop of trails around the city is “about connecting people to each other, to places they care about, places that are good.”
“It speaks to so many of the needs and aspirations in our community,” she said.
Among them: the ability to get to work, school, shops and other places, for free, on foot or by bike; the necessity of building assets that attract and keep residents; and the need to engage and advocate for the natural world.
“It’s important for us to be outside and to be in green space and to be active,” Portman said.
Why not Downtown to Lunken?
A student of geology and a longtime leader of conservancy efforts in Ohio, Montana and elsewhere, one of this year’s Enquirer Women of the Year said she and her husband began thinking about Cincinnati’s trails nearly two decades ago when Cincinnati Parks installed International Friendship Park project along the Ohio River. "Why not connect the easternmost path there to Lunken Airport?" they asked.
So they were game when the Crown project took off and they were asked to lead fundraising in 2019.
With the help of walk-and-talks, they quickly raised $2 million toward an $8 million goal. When the pandemic hit in 2020, they continued their efforts on Zoom from their kitchen table. By the end of 2021, they’d secured $10 million (with $1 million each from Procter & Gamble Co., Kroger Health, United Dairy Farmers and the Marge and Charles Schott Foundation) to add to some $44 million in public funds for Crown work.
Energy of a 25-year-old
Jan Portman often refers to the Crown system as a “ribbon of positive energy encircling our city,” according to some of the 11 letter-writers who supported her nomination for Women of the Year.
But her children – now adults in their 30s – say she is the one with the energy.
“She has more energy than most 25-year-olds,” wrote Lisbet, Mark and Lucia Portman. “She offers her attention to things that matter deeply, and in so doing, gets energy back.”
Other nominators hailed Portman as serious, driven, thoughtful, calm, selfless and tireless. And, as her offspring said, full of energy.
“It is not an exaggeration to say that the Crown project would not have happened without Jan,” wrote Sean McGrory, a member of the Crown Steering Committee. “Jan is the energy source lighting up the Crown.”
And a husband with 'friends everywhere'
Portman shares credit for her Crown success with husband Wym, brother to retired U.S. Sen. Rob Portman. “He knows people everywhere and has friends everywhere,” she said.
They both like to work, she added. Wym Portman remained involved in the family's equipment business after they sold to a new owner. She devoted nine years to high-level national board work for The Nature Conservancy. And they both like to dig in, literally, on conservation projects on their properties in Adams County, Ohio, and near Ovando, Montana. They recently donated part of their Adams County land to the Edge of Appalachia Preserve.
Having raised $10 million for the Crown, however, Jan and Wym Portman are looking to hand the baton to new fundraisers for the West Side portions of the project.
But, there’s no path from Friendship Park to Lunken yet, “so we can’t retire,” Portman joked.
“We always say we hope we get that done before we’re in wheelchairs – so we can still ride our bikes.”
About Jan Van der Voort Portman
Birthplace: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Current residence: Hyde Park.
Family: Husband Wym Portman, retired CEO of Pon North America and its forerunner, Portman Equipment Co., Cincinnati; daughter Lisbet, U.S. director at Ashoka, a global entrepreneur development group, Washington, D.C.; son Mark, ranch development professional, Beartooth Group, Belgrade, Montana; daughter Lucia, National Park Service outdoor recreation planner, Missoula, Montana.
Education: Bachelor’s degree from Smith College and master’s degree from Harvard University, both in geological and earth sciences; work toward a doctorate in geography at the University of Cincinnati; teaching fellowships at Harvard and UC.
Occupation: Co-chair, Crown Capital Campaign; chair, Montana Nature Conservancy Board of Trustees; board member, Smith College Center for the Environment, Ecological Design and Sustainability; board member, University of Montana, Franke College of Forestry and Conservation; former board member, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, ArtWorks, Hillside Trust, Rare; director emeritus, The Nature Conservancy global board.
Q&A with Jan Van der Voort Portman
What inspires you to give back?
"I feel so fortunate, every single day. The only way I know how to embrace that and be happy, side by side with the multitude of challenges in the world, is to give back. Also, I have been around long enough to see significant change. I’ve seen people with good ideas and determination make a real and lasting, positive difference. I know change for the good is possible."
What need in the community would you like to see addressed?
"I wish for all communities that they could focus on what everyone has in common. It won’t ever be 100%, I’m not sure I want to live in a place where everyone agrees on everything. But I bet we can agree on 80%. Landing on those shared values gives us a foundation to solve so many problems."
Who most influenced or inspired you to care about others?
"My mother lived in two different communities in her adult life. Neither had a library when she arrived. While raising three children by herself, she worked very hard to bring a public library to each community. Now I am inspired by so many people I know, but none more than my husband and our children. Wym is tireless in all that he does for Cincinnati. He is hardworking, persistent, strategic, a team builder and when he sees a need he steps in and steps up. Each of our children has merged their work with their passion for doing good."
Meet the 2023 Enquirer Women of the Year
You can find stories about other 2023 honorees by clicking on their names:
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: 2023 Woman of the Year Jan Portman champions city's walking trails
