John "Ozzie" Nelson

John “Ozzie” Nelson Jr. is Chairman and CEO of NELSON Worldwide, an award-winning design, architecture, branding, and consulting services organization operating across the country and globe. Under Ozzie’s leadership, the firm expanded from a one-office, traditional design firm with a single core competency to its current state of more than 22 locations, 10 different practice areas, and multiple fully integrated service lines Since Ozzie became CEO of NELSON in 2003, the firm has executed more than 45 merger/acquisitions, taking NELSON from the rank of #37 in the industry to multiple “Top 10” rankings with growth of more than 500 percent. Among the innovative clients Ozzie has worked with include Amazon, Bank of America, Simon Property Group, Google, Cisco, and Brookfield Properties.

His innovative approach to the design business has put Ozzie in high demand as a speaker for organizations including Design Colloquium, InterPlan, University of St. Thomas, CoreNet, the AEC convention, NeoCon, and the annual conference for the Internal Society of Facilities Executives. In 2019, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal honored Ozzie as one of its Most Admired CEOs. Ozzie has chaired a number of not-for-profit organizations including the Visitation School (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and Students Today Leaders Forever and most recently the University of St. Thomas’s advisory board for its college of arts and sciences. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Committee of 70 and the Mpls Downtown Council and is the Chair of healthcare startup Kinetic Care Group.