Primary Job Title Vice Chairman Primary Organization 
Bush Foundation
Location Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States Regions Greater Minneapolis-Saint Paul Area, Great Lakes, Midwestern US Gender Female
Wendy Nelson Wendy Nelson has more than 20 years of experience in governance and executive positions in the forprofit and non-profit sectors.Nelson served as executive vice president, Carlson Hotels Real Estate and later as executive vice president of brand strategy, Carlson Hotels where she led the revitalization of the Radisson brand worldwide.
Nelson joined Carlson in 2003 as vice president of real estate for Carlson Restaurants directing the company’s U.S. real estate procurement and investment program for the T.G.I. Friday’s brand.
Prior to joining Carlson, she worked in finance and capital management for the private equity firm, Lake Capital in Chicago. She is currently a board member for both The Rezidor Hotel Group and Carlson.Nelson also sits on the boards of Carlson Holdings and Carlson Real Estate.Nelson’s non-profit experience includes past chair of the board of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.
She is currently vice chair of the Bush Foundation, vice president of the Carlson Family Foundation, trustee at Northwestern University and overseer at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.Nelson holds a B.A. in philosophy from Northwestern University and MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern. She resides in Minneapolis with her two children.
