Friday, April 6, 2007

Ventura County Republican Project: Former VCGOP Executive Director, and Current Secretary, Larissa Nelson



Larissa Nelson, Former Executive Director & Current Secretary, Ventura County Republican Party

Larissa Nelson has extensive background in serving the community in the areas of politics, non-profit work, and public relations. She became active in politics, while in college, serving as a campaign volunteer for several local Republican candidates.

Larissa has worked on many of the recent campaigns in California’s History including the Bush/Cheney ‘04 Campaign, the historic recall election bringing Schwarzenegger into office, and, most recently (2005) she served as the chair of the Ventura County Special Election Campaign Team in support of the governor and his initiatives. Although the initiatives did not pass, Ventura County passed three of the reform propositions, and turned out the vote better than any state county on Election Day that had over 100,000 Republicans. Larissa is also an appointed voting member of the California Republican Party. Locally, she founded the Santa Clara River Valley Republican Women Federated, a unit of the National Federation of Republican Women, and is one of the co-founders of the local CWLA chapter.

Professionally, she has also been involved closely with non-profit consulting focusing on non-profit start-up, fund and program development, volunteer recruitment and training, and political organizing. She has worked on a variety of projects involving Habitat for Humanity, the American Red Cross, American Lung Association and Sisters for Social Service. Larissa is also co-founder of The Center for Student Philanthropic Advancement, a non-profit organization that focuses on combining educated student volunteers with community programs.

Throughout her professional career, Mrs. Nelson has continued to work in community and volunteer organizations. She always finds time to contribute locally, from encouraging citizens to become politically involved to working with a local church youth group to serving on the board of CareerVision, a student-focused non-profit organization.

Larissa Nelson graduated cum laude from Pepperdine University with a bachelor's degree in Organizational Communications and Political Science. In her rare free time she prefers to enjoy the outdoors, mountain bike, read, travel, and visit with her 6 brothers and sisters. She currently resides in Fillmore, CA, with her husband, Jon, and her two dogs.

No comments: