Angela D. Nelson has great passion and enthusiasm for helping and serving others. She demonstrates this through her involvement with various programs and projects that she gets involved with both personally and professionally.
She is the Vice President of Multicultural Business Development at Experience Grand Rapids (EXGR) a Destination Marketing Organization leading the organization’s multicultural initiatives related to community relations, diversity and inclusion and workfoce development. She also supports the sales and marketing teams to promote West Michigan as a welcoming, multicultural destination, and developes strategic partnerships at the local and state level to help attract diverse meetings to the region.
Angela is a native of Flint, Michig9an but made her way to West Michigan as a student at Grand Valley State University. In 2003, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems and a minor in Computer Information Systems. Several years later she received a Master of Business Administration in Integrative Management from Michigan State University - The Eli Broad College of Business.
When she’s able to carve out personal time, Angela enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She loves to travel, meeting people and learning their local culture. In fact, she has traveled to four continents and 17 countries and is particularly fond of Zambia, a country in Central Africa. She looks forward to returning there one day.
Angela’s real passion is the West Michigan community. In 2018, she was honored as one of West Michigan’s 50 Most Influential Women for her leadership role at Experience Grand Rapids and her service to the community. She serves on several committees and boards, including the Gilda’s Club Laugh Fest Cabinet, the YWCA Helen Claytor Recognition Society and Tribute! Committees, and the Camp Tall Turf, YMCA and Grand Rapids Children’s Museum Board of Directors. She also serves as president of the Grand Rapids Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and co-chairs PROACTIVE, an election protection coalition.
With nearly a decade of experience planning and executing events, Angela established herself as the SHE-E-O of 616 Grand Productions, LLC, an events management and production company. The business is a marriage of two of her life’s passions: 1) her love for creating and planning events that bring people together for an enjoyable time and 2) her devotion and support of community. Every event is a #partywithapurpse in which a portion of the event proceeds support a local cause, generally focused on women and children.
Angela believes that Grand Rapids is a great community to work and live, and believes the best is yet to come for the city that’s transforming into a world class destination actively working to become a welcoming and accessible city for all!