Paul McNair (born May 13, 1959) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

executive in that country's

nonprofit sector The voluntary sector, independent sector, or civic sector is the realm of social activity undertaken by organizations that are non-governmental nonprofit organizations. This sector is also called the third sector, community sector, and nonprofit s ...

. He is primarily known for establishing the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt in Canada and was named Outstanding Professional Fundraising Executive by the

Association of Fundraising Professionals Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

in 2006. He served as president of the

, Nova Scotia Chapter in 2008. In 2014 McNair was elected president of Dance Victoria.

Biography

Born and raised in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, McNair attended

Halifax West High School Halifax West High School is a Canadian public high school located in the Clayton Park neighbourhood in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia. Encompassing grades 10 through 12, Halifax West High School offers a variety of courses in bo ...

. In 1977, he received the Birk's Medal for outstanding contribution to school affairs and the Soroptimist Youth Citizenship Award for contribution to the community. McNair attended

Mount Saint Vincent University Mount Saint Vincent University, often referred to as the Mount, is a public, primarily undergraduate, university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and was established in 1873. Mount Saint Vincent offers undergraduate programs in Arts, S ...

from 1977 to 1981, and was elected as president of the student union, the first male to hold this role in the university's history. He received the President's Prize in 1981.

Career

Serving as the executive director for the Friends of the Citadel Society, McNair gained reputation for outstanding management skills in the nonprofit sector taking the organization from a grassroots level to a national award-winning society. He then became the first executive director of the Alzheimer Society of Nova Scotia and the executive director of AIDS Nova Scotia. Special events coordinated by McNair captured local, regional and national awards during this time including recognition by the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia and the National Association of Cooperating Associations. In 1990, McNair left Halifax to join the Farha Foundation in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Canada's first private AIDS foundation founded by Ron Farha, former President of Linda Lingerie. Between 1992 and 1997, McNair worked for the

Kingston Symphony The Kingston Symphony (KS) is a Canadian orchestra based in Kingston, Ontario. Since 2014 the principal conductor of the symphony has been Evan Mitchell. The ensemble performs most of its concerts at The Grand Theatre.

, Big Sisters of Ottawa and the

Ottawa General Hospital The Ottawa Hospital's General Campus is one of three main campuses of The Ottawa Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. With 569 beds, the General Campus includes The Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Centre and the Cancer Centre. The Ottawa General Ho ...

. In 1997, he moved to

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

to join the Camosun College Foundation. Heading the Foundation's private sector campaign to restore the college's historic Young Building, McNair was recognized by the

Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

for 25 years in the industry. In 2006, McNair completed his course work for his master's degree in Philanthropy & Development from

Saint Mary's University of Minnesota Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, (SMUMN) is a private Catholic university with an undergraduate residential college in Winona, Minnesota; graduate and professional programs in Winona, the Twin Cities, and Rochester; and various course deli ...

in Winona. The Parkinson Society Maritime Region named McNair CEO in 2003, a position he held until March 2009 when he became National Associate Director, Events Parkinson Society Canada setting anew record for funds raised through the charity's signature event, SuperWalk. Since May 2010 he has served as executive director of the Land Trust Alliance of British Columbia. In 2006 McNair was awarded the "Outstanding Professional Fundraiser Award" by the Association of Fundraising Professionals in Nova Scotia. McNair has served on the Board of Governors of

, Open Space Gallery Victoria, Metro Volunteer Resource Centre, National Association of Cooperating Associations, Victoria Dance Series, and numerous other organizations. He currently serves on the

Natal Day NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ...

Committee of the Halifax Regional Municipality. McNair also served on the Vancity Advisory Council for Victoria. He was elected President of Dance Victoria in 2014. He served for 6 years as a Trustee of the Greater Victoria Public Library. In 2018 he was elected President of the Victoria Arts Council. He has been a practicing artist since 2009 largely in landscape and abstract painting. His award-winning works have been exhibited in Canada and the US and are in collections world-wide.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNair, Paul D. 1959 births Living people Businesspeople from Halifax, Nova Scotia Canadian nonprofit executives Mount Saint Vincent University alumni Saint Mary's University of Minnesota alumni

Biography

Career

See also

References