Mariah Burton Nelson is a change agent and award-winning author. As vice-president for innovation and planning at ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership, she literally wrote the book on new product development (Focus on What Matters: A 3-Step Workbook for Selecting and Sunsetting Association Programs, Products, and Services), which teaches associations how to use the framework ASAE developed under her leadership. Before coming to ASAE, she served as executive director for a physical education association, where she coauthored a $12 million federal grant to create The Head Start Body Start Center for Physical Activity and Outdoor Play and played a key role in merging the organization with four others. Before that, she was a nationally acclaimed thought leader on the empowerment of women through sports. A journalist and professional speaker, she wrote for The Washington Post, The New York Times, and USA Today and appeared on such programs as Today, Good Morning America, Dateline, Nightline, Donahue, and Diane Rehm.
