Ross Nelson ‘ 25
Senior VP/Regional Manager, Northeast (retired)
Cox communitcations
AWARD PROFILE
Courageous Thinking and Actions
It was during his time in the Rotary Club of Attleboro that Ross Nelson was first introduced to community service and giving back. There were two themes in Rotary that really stuck with him. The first was the Rotary motto of “Service Above Self” and the second was their philosophy of “planting a tree under whose shade you will never sit.”
Cox Communications allowed Ross Nelson to further pursue what would be several of his lifelong passions – giving back to the community, developing employees, supporting children and education, and creating entrepreneurial opportunities.
Early in his Cox career, Ross served on the board of Junior Achievement of Rhode Island and organized what was, at the time, the largest single company volunteer event for JA in a Day with over 40 company volunteers visiting George West Elementary School. This event led to the creation of Employee Volunteer Days. Cox has given every employee 4 hours per quarter of volunteer time in addition to the Volunteer Days which have become so very important to our employees.
Vision and Innovation
Ross is a highly engaged business leader in the communities that he serves. His vision for small businesses and startups led to changing the one time Get Started RI (GSRI) event into a year-round brand and supporter of the growing entrepreneurial community in RI. Get Started RI, a shark-tank like event spotlighted 6 different companies each year and ran for 10 years. Through his work with GSRI, he joined the group at Venture Mentoring Services of RI and mentored several small businesses over several years.
His commitment to the community continues with supporting local youth. He served as a judge for the Boys & Girls Clubs of RI Youth of the Year competition for over a decade. Along with his employees serving on all of the boards of directors for Boys & Girls Clubs in RI, Cox Charities has donated Technology Labs to all the Clubs.
Inspiring Leadership
Committed to employee growth and development, one of Ross’ most proud moments occurred at the annual Summit for Cox Business. All of the vice presidents presented their local attendees and made their commitments for the year in front of the entire audience of over 500 people. Ross introduced and asked his local group of about 30 leaders to stand. He then asked anyone who previously worked in New England to stand and a group of about the same size stood up. This reflected his desire to develop and promote his employees.
Ross believes that every person has something unique to offer. He launched the Gallup Strengths program to all of his employees to identify and celebrate their individual Top 5 Strengths. This led to creating strengths-based teams and projects and focusing on what his employees’ strengths were rather than weaknesses.
Community Mindedness
Cox Communications has always been very engaged in the communities they serve. Cox has been very supportive of Ross’ community involvement. He is currently involved with the Greenwood Credit Union, Junior Achievement’s Executive Council, the Pawtucket Foundation, and Cox Charities. He previously served on the Attleboro Performing Arts Center (Union Theater) board, Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, the Northern RI Chamber of Commerce (past chair), the Providence Foundation, Roger Williams University Gabelli School of Business, RI Public Expenditures Council, NECTA, Rotary Club of Attleboro (past president) and the Friends of the Capron Park Zoo.
JA Mission Moment
“My most recent experience with Junior Achievement (JA) in a classroom was at Holliman Elementary School in Warwick, RI. We had a lively group of 5th graders. They were a fun, interesting, and varied group for sure. I was amazed at how well they worked together on our projects and supported each other, and how much fun they seemed to have teasing each other.
JA was not new to them, and they were so excited to have us in the classroom. Their varied career aspirations were very interesting – from marine biologists, to shop owners, and entrepreneurs. Working with these children and seeing their reactions truly renewed my belief in our future and our need to be a part of it.
My career long passion and goal for supporting children, education and entrepreneurs blends perfectly with the mission of JA. Junior Achievement’s mission is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. Junior Achievement envisions a world in which young people have the skillset and mindset to build thriving communities. What is more noble than that?
I firmly believe that our children are our future’s biggest asset, and it is our responsibility to develop and shape them into the future leaders that we will need and give them the tools to be successful. The best way we can accomplish that as individuals and leaders is to get involved. This journey is too important to sit back and ‘hope’ someone else gets involved.”