Douglas Nelson is retired President and CEO of the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF). For more than
20 years, Nelson led AECF through one of the most remarkable and innovative transformations of a
philanthropic organization—leading it from a moderately-sized regional institution providing foster care
services to disadvantaged children to one of the nation's most influential and respected large
foundations. In 2010, President Jimmy Carter commended Nelson’s leadership, saying that “his service
to our most disinvested and disenfranchised populations and to the overall betterment of America’s
philanthropic missions has been extraordinary and all too rare.”
Among many other roles, Mr. Nelson serves as Chair of the CDC Foundation in Atlanta, GA; and is a
member of the Board of Directors of the Carter Center. He is former Chair of Living Cities: The National
Community Development Initiative and former Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation
Center in New York City. Mr. Nelson currently serves as a Senior Advisor to the Race to Equity Project, a
research-based initiative to increase racial equity in the state’s capital county and across the state.
VAHSAid is a student driven-organization from Verona Area High School whose mission is to deliver
aid to the impoverished citizens of Dane County and Wisconsin. In the spring of 2017, the group hosted
a “camp out” to raise awareness about child poverty and food insecurity in Dane County and across
Wisconsin. They were able to collect 2,333 pounds of items for the Badger Prairie Needs Network and
$1,037 for Kids Forward.

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Kids Forward, formerly the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, is the oldest multi-issue child
advocacy organization in the country. Kids Forward advocates for effective, long-lasting solutions that
break down barriers to success for children and families in Wisconsin. Using research and a community-
informed approach, Kids Forward works to help every kid, every family, and every community thrive.