Donald Lewin Nelson

For more than 30 years, Don Nelson has participated in various levels of government in California. He has served as an administrative assistant to a California State Senator, as a vice president of a major public affairs consulting agency, as a public affairs consultant to a major health and environment organization, as a planning commissioner for one of the most political charged cities in America, and a lobbyist for cable television and fast food industry.

As a high school student during the early 1960s, Don developed an interest in politics as a means of social and environmental change. He relocated from his native Nebraska to attend Loyola University of Los Angeles (Loyola Marymount University). At that time California was on the cusp of political marketing with several firms developing computerized direct mail strategies. Through an associate, Don developed a relationship with the direct mail operation of the Ken Ross Company in West Los Angeles.

Since he came from a working class family, Don used his interest in photography and sound editing to work in a number of political campaigns. This ability allowed him to be in various strategy sessions as the campaign consultants mapped out the campaigns of the candidates.

During the early 1970s, Don worked for Senator David A. Roberti as his district administrative assistant. In this position, he served as a surrogate for the Senator in many meetings and public speaking engagements.

In the late 1970s, Don worked for the local and state affiliates of the American Lung Association on a series of public information campaigns under grants from the Environmental Protection Agency.

With the imminent election of Ronald Reagan to the Presidency in 1980, Don Nelson jumped to Cerrell Associates, Inc., in August 1980. In view of his knowledge of communications and environmental issues, he became one of the consulting firm's chief lobbyists on cable television in Los Angeles and other Southern California cities.

In the mid 1980s, Don struck out on his own to serve as a public affairs consultant and lobbyist. During this period, he was worked for a number of corporations including McDonald's Corporation, Standard Broadcasting Corporation of Canada, and a number of other companies.

Because he has always been an individual with strong personal beliefs, Don served for almost seven years as a planning commissioner in the City of Santa Monica. This was a time of highly charged political battles concerning growth and development in this Southern California city.

Over the years, Don worked in a number of political campaigns. As a technology junkie, he realized that small desktop computers could assist candidates and campaigns in communicating their message to the public. He employed this technology to assist several campaigns in developing databases for campaign usage.

When times between campaigns became lean, Don worked as a graphic artist and computer typesetter for a production services company in Hollywood. He created audio/visual programs for a number of clients involving the integration of photographs, narration, and music.

Today, Don Nelson develops websites and internet strategies for several clients in Southern California. 

In a strange twist of fate, he edits music for a large number of figure skaters in the United States, Korea, Australia, and Mexico. Many skating coaches and choreographers consider him to be one of the best music editors in the United States. He is an announcer and music coordinator at many ice skating competitions.