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Debbie Nelson
As founder and principal of DNA, Debbie Nelson has two chief priorities. One is to provide strong strategic leadership for her staff of creative marketing professionals as they continue to build DNA into one of the Upstate's top communications companies. The other is to give back to the community by partnering with non-profit organizations in the Greenville area, where she's lived for more than 20 years.

An entrepreneur from the age of 16 when she owned an antiques consignment store, Debbie grew her business from a part-time special events business located in her home to a full-service public relations and marketing firm with its own building in downtown Greenville. In 2005, DNA was named the Greenville Chamber of Commerce's Small Business of the Year, an honor which Debbie considers her biggest professional accomplishment. "Building from this achievement, I have focused my business model more on community-based businesses and organizations that enhance the area's quality of life and economic health," she says, citing education, housing, recreation, economic development, health care and the environment among DNA's priorities.

Debbie takes pride in supporting DNA's staff as they grow personally and professionally. "There is nothing more satisfying than receiving a compliment from a client or community member about one of our campaigns or the service provided by the DNA team," she says. "It is even more rewarding when the person does not know that DNA was responsible for the good work they are commenting about."

Debbie holds a B.A. degree from Smith College, a M.A. of Health Administration from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from the Citadel. She also is a graduate of the Leadership Greenville and Leadership South Carolina programs, has a served on a variety of nonprofit boards and committees and is a recipient of the Ruth Alexander Nicholson Leadership Award from the Community Foundation of Greenville.