Rob Nelson
MBA, CAE, FACHE

Principal & Managing Director

Axion’s founder and Managing Director, Robert G. Nelson, possesses over sixteen years of experience in marketing, business development, strategy, operations and program management. Rob has served both as a private consultant and senior manager and executive, leading a dozen different organizations and multiple teams and projects for Fortune 30 and privately held firms including IBM, Motorola, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).

Rob is also currently Senior Vice President, Marketing & Strategic Business Development and Managing Director, Global Operations for AHIMA, where he serves as a member of the senior leadership team with responsibilities for marketing, business development, sales, membership development, market research and customer service as well as AHIMA’s international operations including the Global Services Office in Brussels.

Prior to this role, Rob served as the Executive Director of the education and research affiliate of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), the pre-eminent entity certifying physicians in the United States. Rob also served at the ABMS as head of business development of the ABMS where he led a doubling in growth of business line revenues developing the commercial enterprise data and services business and launching new data and online products. Rob has also worked closely with the ABMS Research & Education Foundation on healthcare quality improvement projects funded by ABMS other sources and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation which included winning and implementing a $MM grant award. Projects include a Web-based patient e-learning module and the improving performance in practice program focused on improving outcomes in Asthma and Diabetes.

As a consultant, Mr. Nelson has advised clients on marketing, strategy, development, funding and general operations and management issues. His clients have included a mix of publicly held, privately held and non-for-profit firms.

Prior to consulting, Rob served in senior management roles in Market Initiatives, Program Management, Global E-Business Operations Effectiveness as well as founding member of a Corporate Diversity Business Council and Chair of National Marketing. Rob has also served in operations roles with IBM, where he ran supply chain operations for the Endicott site, as well as positions with Motorola, Amazon.com and a privately held electronics manufacturer based in Seattle. His corporate career is preceded by over a decade of service in the United States Navy. Following tours in naval intelligence and as a shipboard officer in the Combat Logistics Force, he completed service as Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for a communications center supporting the US Strategic Submarine fleet.

Rob served as Director on the Advisory Board of a charitable Chicago-area hospice that was acquired by a publicly traded healthcare system.

Rob earned his MBA in marketing and strategy at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management (June 2003). He also holds a certificate in International Management from The Thunderbird School of Global Management as well as a certificate in negotiation from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School in addition to coursework through INSEAD. Currently, Rob is a Doctoral Student (DBA) at Grenoble Ecole de Management in Grenoble, France with doctoral research in marketing & strategy. Rob also holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Oklahoma, which he earned while on scholarship from the U.S. Navy.

Rob is a certified association executive (CAE) and also board certified healthcare executive and fellow (FACHE) and he is a member of the following professional organizations:

• American Marketing Association and the Chicago Chapter,
• Business Marketing Association
• Marketing Executive Network Group
• Chief Marketing Officer Council
• American College of Healthcare Executives,
• Product Development and Management Association
• American Society of Association Executives
• Association Forum of Chicago
• Chicago Health Executives Forum
• Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development
• Healthcare Information Management Systems Society