KidLead Founders
KidLead co-founders are a husband-wife duo, Dr. Alan and Nancy Nelson. Alan is a leadership development specialist, who was a leader in the social sector for more than twenty years, until taking a midlife course change to pursue his 2nd half passion, leadership development. He invested much of his life, working with many leaders and their families in leader-concentrated areas of south Orange Country, CA, and Scottsdale, AZ. Alan is the author of 15 books, over half of which deal with leadership topics, as well as hundreds of small and feature length articles. His landmark book, "KidLead: Growing Great Leaders," was released in 2009 and "LeadYoung" released in 2011. Alan has a masters degree in psychology-communication and doctorate (EdD) in leadership from the University of San Diego. Before donating his library, he had more than 700 books on the topic of leadership. Dr. Nelson is certified by the American Society of Trainers & Development (www.astd.org) and the Center for Creative Leadership (www.ccl.org). He is available for speaking, training, and consulting globally on the topic of leadership development among youth. Click HERE for a free article on his Leadership 2-22 model that outlines the 4 seasons of a young leader's life, from years 2-22. Dr. Nelson is also a lecturer of management at the Naval Postgraduate School, considered one of the top military educational institutions in the world.
Nancy Nelson turned her passion for kids into designing the trainer certification for those using KidLead curricula. Her work has included more than a decade of leading children’s programs. She served as the junior high director with leadership guru, John Maxwell. Perhaps more impressive than her love for and work with kids, is that she’s effectively home schooled their three sons for most of their primary and secondary education. Nancy brings a vibrancy to the KidLead curriculum design and trainer certification process. The Nelson’s have been married over 30 years and have raised three young leaders (Jeff, Jesse, and Josh), who were involved in sharing their experiences in the book, "KidLead: Growing Great Leaders."
The Nelsons live in Monterey, California.
