Anita Nelson has been named director of inclusion and engagement for the University of Wisconsin Department of Athletics, Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez announced Thursday.
“I am excited about Anita joining our staff,” said Deputy Athletic Director Chris McIntosh, who will take over as Director of Athletics on July 1, in a statement. “As a former student-athlete herself, I know she appreciates the value of the student-athlete experience. We are all looking forward to working with her as we continue to enhance our diversity-related efforts.”
Nelson will create and manage diversity-related initiatives and coordinate programming with other department staff, according to a press release from the UW, and she will also work to develop and improve programming that supports and increases student-athlete experiences.
Nelson, who has 13 years of experience in higher education and student services, has been serving as the executive director of financial aid at UIC Law where she had a primary focus on student retention, programming geared toward diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and process development. She earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Judson University in 2007 and an MBA in 2011 from Colorado Tech. Nelson, a women’s basketball student-athlete, was inducted into her school’s hall of fame in 2020.
“I’m grateful and excited for the opportunity to work alongside such an amazing group of administrators and students within the athletic department,” Nelson said. “The culture at Wisconsin is unmatched and I’m ready to reaffirm to our student-athletes why they are here!”
