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Laurie
R. Nelson
Alexander
Facilitator,
Mentor
Having
a widely varied background, Laurie has spent the majority of her
work life being a public relations specialist, and working in the
entertainment industry for over 30 years as a creative writer, director,
producer, actress, television producer, on-air personality, singer,
and songwriter. Having grown up in a theatrical and musical household
as a child, and coming from a long lineage of musicians, Laurie
found the arts a natural place to spend time.
She
has shared the stage with Bob Hope, Merv Griffin, Alan Sues, Mike
Connors, Bob Denver and Morey Amsterdam. A former Miss Washington,
Laurie toured Iceland and Germany entertaining the U.S. troops with
the Miss America USO in 1979.
Her
work with empowerment programs for children led her to the creation
and facilitation of the T.R.A.S.H. (Tacoma Recycles And Saves Habitat)
program, an educational environmental assembly program for the Tacoma,
Washington school district, co-sponsored by the City of Tacoma 's
Public Works Department and the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium.
This program was re-created annually and toured all of Tacoma's
elementary schools from 1987-1991, winning the A&E networks
award for best in City Videos, as well as the Presidential Award
for Excellence in children's environmental education. During this
time, she wrote and produced 22 children's songs with Scott Burnett
of Darkhorse Musicmedia.
After
that, Laurie joined forces with KCPQ-FOX13 television for five years,
producing empowering children's television specials and hosting
the KCPQ Kids Club. She directed and co-produced (along with husband
Jeff) the Emmy award winning, “You've Got the Power!” a family television
special about safety and stranger awareness for children, as well
as participating in the creation of other environmental and multi-cultural
awareness specials. While at KCPQ, Laurie volunteered to serve as
the hostess for the northwest airing of Jerry Lewis' MDA telethon,
and helped raised hundreds of thousands of dollars every year for
this worthy cause.
After
30 years of award-winning productions and performances, Laurie made
the decision to change pathways in 1994, and joined the non-profit
organization Warrior Spirit, as Executive Director, Volunteer Coordinator
and Program Producer. She served in
this role continually until her retirement in the summer of 2005
and now enjoys teaching and mentoring within the Warrior Spirit
community.
She
and Jeff have six children, and Laurie has been home schooling them
for 15 years. Spending time with family continues to be one of her
greatest joys.
Laurie
is an alumna of The Evergreen State College, where she focused her
studies in cross-cultural shamanism, environmental studies, and
botanical medicine. She has been accepted into Naropa University's
Master's program in transpersonal psychology, with a focus in ecopsychology.
You
can access Laurie's blog at http://foco-en-dios.blogspot.com/
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