Amy Nelson (; born 1980) is an American

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, and writer. In January 2017, she founded The Riveter, an organization that provided work space and other services to support working women. She is the co-host of the podcast, ''What's Her Story With Sam & Amy''. Nelson worked for then President Barack Obama's Finance Committee and co-founded Gen44, the under-40 fundraising arm of the Obama campaign. As an author, she has been published in

Inc. Magazine ''Inc.'' is an American business media company founded in 1979 and based in New York City. ''Inc.'' publishes several print magazine issues per year, and is anchored by journalistic content online and on social media, focused on entrepreneurship a ...

and

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

Early life and education

Amy Sterner Nelson was born in 1980 and grew up in Ohio. Nelson's mother was a middle school teacher and her father an attorney. Nelson developed an interest in politics in her youth, going door-to-door for political campaigns. Her first jobs were as a nanny, then as a waitress. Nelson earned a Bachelor's degree in International Studies from

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

. While attending college, Nelson interned at the

Carter Center The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University after his defeat in the 1980 United States presidential ele ...

, where she accepted a full-time job upon graduation. She then earned a J.D. in law from the

NYU School of Law The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-b ...

Career

After graduating from NYU Law, Nelson worked in law and politics. Initially, she did corporate litigation for

Cahill Gordon & Reindel Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP is an American law firm based in New York City with offices also in Washington, D.C. and London. Founded in 1919, it is prominent in the practice areas of capital markets and banking & finance. History Cahill opene ...

. While in New York, she worked for then President Barack Obama's Finance Committee and co-founded Gen44, the under-40 fundraising arm of the Obama campaign. She also worked in fundraising for

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also self-styled as pro-choice movements, are movements that advocate for legal access to induced abortion services, including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their ...

political candidates. Nelson moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

in 2012 with Carleton Phillip Nelson, her then-boyfriend and now-husband, who was employed as an executive in

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

's real estate acquisitions & development organization from 2012 until he was terminated in May 2019. Nelson co-founded The Riveter in 2017 with Kim Peltola, a social worker. Nelson raised $700,000 in

seed capital Seed money, also known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor puts capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company. The term ''seed'' suggests ...

and opened The Riveter's first office that May in Seattle. The Riveter is named after

Rosie the Riveter Rosie the Riveter is an allegorical cultural icon in the United States who represents the women who worked in factories and shipyards during World War II, many of whom produced munitions and war supplies. These women sometimes took entirely n ...

, who was a symbol for female factory workers during World War II.

Podcast

Nelson is the co-host of the podcast, ''What's Her Story With Sam & Amy'' with fellow entrepreneur Samantha Ettus. The podcast features interviews with women at the top of their field and has included

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem ( ; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social movement, social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ...

Abby Wambach Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American retired Association football, soccer player, coach, and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach was a regular on ...

Randi Zuckerberg Randi Jayne Zuckerberg (born February 28, 1982) is an American businesswoman. She is the former director of market development and spokesperson for Facebook, and a sister of the company's co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Prior to working at F ...

Huma Abedin Huma Mahmood Abedin (born July 28, 1975) is an American political staffer who was vice chair of Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign for President of the United States. Before that, Abedin was deputy chief of staff to Clinton when she was U.S. Secre ...

, and

Melinda Gates Melinda French Gates (born Melinda Ann French; August 15, 1964) is an American philanthropist. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, she was educated at Ursuline Academy of Dallas, Duke University, and Duke's Fuqua School of Business. Shortly afte ...

. Between the podcast and her related social media platforms, Nelson has more than a half-million followers.

Personal life

Nelson has four daughters with her husband, Carleton Nelson.

Early life and education

Career

Podcast

Personal life

References

Further reading