JK Nelson has wide and deep experience as a manager in various arenas, ranging from electoral (Field Director for over two dozen state legislative and congressional campaigns and New York State Deputy Finance Director for a Presidential candidate), VP at high performing nonprofits, labor organizing, and educational advocacy spaces. JK has helped mobilize over 5 million people over the course of his organizing career. His management practice is undergoing ongoing refinement in the crucible of many past, present, and—most assuredly—future mistakes. JK’s managerial experience runs the spectrum including building teams from scratch, inheriting teams, managing complex organizational change, managing through layers of management, managing toward ambitious/inspiring goals, and managing major organizational cultural shifts. Additionally, JK has managed in diverse organizational structures including both hierarchical and matrixed formulations and everything in between. JK’s trainings are marked by high energy, transparency and a sincere attempt at humor. Ever practical, he is deeply committed to equipping participants with managerial best practices that they learn in the early morning and could implement in the late morning (had they not been in a training with JK). JK is deeply committed to seeing every manager reach their full leadership potential. JK earned his undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt University and a M.Div at Harvard Divinity School.
