Post-JET Career Panel - JETAA Portland

Looking for career advice specific to JET alums?

Join us on Tuesday October 20th for our virtual career panel, featuring JET alums and professionals who have worked in both the US and Japan. During this 2-hour session, our panelists will share their career journeys, give advice on finding work both in the US and Japan, discuss how to translate your JET skills to other jobs, and answer your most burning career-related questions during our Q&A.

Date: Tuesday, October 20th
Time: 5:30-7:30pm PST
Location: Zoom
Click here to register: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/0X5NUmHmS1GXPQ3-rqVJWg

About Our Panelists

John Thomas

JET ALT 1994-1997, Hyogo Prefecture

After graduating with a BA in Japanese from University of Oregon in 1994, I spent three years as a ALT in Amagasaki, Hyogo. This is an industrial city between Osaka and Kobe. I met my wife, Hiromi, while I was an ALT; we have been married since 1999 and have two kids. Since returning from Japan I worked as a Japanese teacher and translator before entering the marketing world. I am now working as an SEO & AI Strategist at Mad Fish Digital located in downtown Portland.

Hilary Brown

My major at Willamette University was French, with a minor in Japanese. After graduation, I was accepted into the first year of the JET Programme. I was an AET for 2 years (Osaka-fu), then worked for an international exposition in Osaka in the protocol department. During that job, I was recruited to work in Paris, coordinating photo shoots for a Japanese catalogue company. Following Paris, I returned to the US and moved into the translation/simultaneous interpreting world, managing a company in Orlando, Florida. From there, I ‘fell’ into event production. I’ve been a producer in the live event business for over 20 years.

I love travel and art, and love to document my travels with photos and collaging. I’m also a passionate environmentalist (which sometimes makes working in my current business frustrating), as well as a big proponent of social justice causes.

Fun Fact: I collect globes, and I have 7 of them in my living room alone!

Lilly Hart

Lilly Hart is a bilingual communications professional who lived in Japan for 11 years. She began learning Japanese at just 5 years old, when she was enrolled in a Japanese Immersion Program based in Portland, OR. Lilly completed the program when she graduated from high school, then moving on to study Public Relations and Japanese at DePaul University in Chicago. She was inspired to live in Japan after doing a short-term study abroad program funded by the US-Japan Council's TOMODACHI Initiative.

Lilly lived in Toyama for three years on the JET Program, where she worked at two high schools, volunteered to interpret for prefectural travel initiatives, and was heavily involved in the community. In 2018, she attended the Stanford Inter-University Program, a 10-month intensive Japanese program, on a full ride scholarship. She began her corporate career at Ashinaga Foundation, a non-profit that provided educational funds for students who had lost one or both parents. From there, she worked at GLOBIS Corporation, overseeing corporate public relations for the founder and CEO. She then worked for Japan's largest law firm, Nishimura & Asahi, where she was the only American on a Japanese team of 23. She is now based in her hometown of Portland, OR.

Sheila Walters Matsuda

I was raised in International Development; my first 10 years of life were in Ethiopia and Lebanon with my parents who trained locals in irrigation techniques. During high school, I was a Rotary Scholar to Japan. Later, I studied in Japan for one year through my university's year abroad program. As an adult, I have taught Japanese language and culture at preschools, elementary schools, junior high and high schools, and universities. I created and led school exchange programs between Japanese and Portland schools. With a Master’s Degree in International Educational Development, I lived one year in Malawi with Peace Corps Response. As Director of Operations for a Micronesian non-profit in Honolulu, I built capacity for the non-English-speaking immigrant community by expanding their access to healthcare by developing information distribution systems in 7 different languages. I am the Vice President of an INGO that supports community-based infrastructure development in Tanzania. I also teach Global Studies at PCC and teach Japanese language and culture online. For fun, I practice Chado - the Way of Tea.