When Dougal Nelson retires from Junior Achievement of the Heartland this week, the visionary CEO and president will leave a legacy local leaders say will inspire generations of students.
Among those leaders is Jim Russell, CEO of Russell, the Davenport-based construction, real estate and development firm that served as the design-build construction partner for the year-old JA of the Heartland Inspiration Center at 6600 44th Ave., Moline.
“Dougal’s impact in the Quad Cities will be felt for decades to come,” predicted Mr. Russell, who is a member of the Quad Cities Junior Achievement of the Heartland Business Hall of Fame.
“Our community had the first of its kind BizTown years ago, and today we are again leading the way with the Inspiration Center – all thanks to Dougal’s passion, commitment, and vision.”
Mr. Nelson’s successor, Lysa Hegland, told the QCBJ “Dougal did a fantastic job leading JA of the Heartland for nine years and leaving a lasting legacy that includes the newly constructed JA Inspiration Center in Moline.”
Mr. Nelson’s path from factory floor to JA took a circuitous but welcome route, claiming fortune through his entire career by being “surrounded by just wonderful people and great mentors.”
That began when Mr. Nelson returned to school after the Star Forms Bettendorf plant where he worked closed its doors in 1996. The non-traditional Black Hawk College student began studying to be an accountant until an instructor and mentor told him “you just love people, and so maybe think about sales or something.”
Later at Western Illinois University, another “amazing mentor” Professor James Patterson, convinced him to expand his horizons. Armed with a Bachelor of Science degree in Management with a focus on marketing and logistics he went to work at Kone Elevator.
Falling in love with JA
He soon moved to the then Moline-based Isabel Bloom where he would find another mentor in the storied brand’s former owner Hunt Harris, who passed away in 2023. Mr. Nelson went to the American Red Cross after his time at Isabel Bloom, and then the Quad Cities Habitat for Humanity.
During that time, Mr. Harris, who also is a member of JA Business Hall of Fame, began trying to recruit Mr. Nelson for JA by talking about young people who lacked generational wealth or opportunities that would help them succeed in life. Reluctantly Mr. Nelson agreed to talk to JA and “promptly fell in love with the organization, the mission, and what they were doing.”
After signing in 2018, he became passionate about getting “in front of these kids at a really young age and showing them that there’s a different way to live,” he said.
“Kids only know what they know. They can only be what they see, so that’s a big part of what we do.”
Creating self-sufficient, independent adults with rewarding careers who can take care of themselves and who care about the community is an essential part of that mission and Mr. Nelson’s skills were the right match for an organization designed to meet those needs, said Per Mar Security CEO Brain Duffy, a JA of the Heartland board member who served as chair during Mr. Nelson’s tenure.
“Dougal has been an exceptional leader for Junior Achievement,” he added. “His tireless energy and passion for our mission and the staff shines through to every person he comes in contact with.”
Mr. Nelson’s tenure has been marked by challenges including COVID-19 which forced JA to rely on distance learning. During that time, he also began working to collaborate with other regional JAs, which he said helped lead to being awarded in 2022 with the JA USA’s prestigious Karl Flemke Pioneer Achievement Award.
Another post-pandemic side effect were supply chain shortages that delayed construction and boosted the cost of building the Inspiration Center. The need to cover those costs amplified the importance of a critical but difficult part of Mr. Nelson’s job – “convincing donors to give to something they can’t put their hands and touch.” That’s also why JA concentrates heavily on telling young people’s stories and sharing the impact it has had while serving 54,000 youth in schools in 24 counties in Illinois and Iowa.
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Taking JA to next level
JA of Heartland’s leaders also credit Mr. Nelson’s focus on organizational culture, student impact, and strategic vision for such JA’s milestones as the Oct 2024 opening of the Inspiration Center. “Dougal’s leadership made this vision a reality, creating a space where thousands of students each year will get hands-on experiences that spark curiosity, build confidence, and open doors to future careers,” Russell told the QCBJ in an email..
“From concept and design through construction and the ribbon -cutting ceremony, Dougal’s passion was always clear,” the company said, adding, “His drive not only brought the Inspiration Center to life but also rallied community and business leaders to join in supporting the next generation of talent.”
Those leaders employ the center’s JA BizTown to showcase to young people the wide range of careers offered in the trades, STEM, and leadership roles to remind students of the career pathways available here at home, Russell added.
While helping students explore jobs, the center also boasts a unique “Giving Tree” designed to teach them the value and reward of giving back to their communities.
It also is one of Mr. Nelson’s favorite things about the center. The idea was born because there weren’t any more spaces available when Moline Regional Community Foundation President and CEO Paul Plagenz reached out to seek a sponsorship opportunity.
Mr. Plagenz and Mr. Nelson went back to the drawing board literally. After poring over the blueprints, they settled on creating “The Giving Tree” on an empty pillar inside the new center.
Named for a book by the late Shel Silverstein, it encourages students to share some of what they “earn” at their BizTown jobs and the skills they learn in Finance Park to donate to local charities. In year one, students directed real checks written by the MRCF totalling $2,500 to organizations including Riverbend Food Bank, Niabi Zoo and Living Lands & Waters.
“Dougal is not only the personification of JA’s mission, he genuinely cares about the youth of our community,” Mr. Plagenz told the QCBJ. “Co-creating the MRCF Giving Tree to inspire kids to give back to the causes they care about will pay future dividends – and showcases his visionary leadership and heart of gold.”
One of his most difficult duties of the job, Mr. Nelson said, is fundraising. Take the $3.25 million capital campaign for the new Inspiration Center. He called it “a big lift” because the project had to be built in two phases so fundraising could continue during phase one to pay for phase two.
Those challenges plus meeting day-to-day needs are why Mr. Nelson emphasized the importance of supporting JA of the Heartland’s Free Enterprise Foundation which is designed to ensure JA of the Heartland continues for generations.
Mr. Nelson encouraged Quad Citians to continue “not only on raising money for operational costs and the day-to-day-operations of the business, but we have to find those legacy gifts.”
Growing JA’S role
Mr. Nelson also gave a shout out to Vibrant credit union for its unprecedented long-term commitment to JA’s new Inspiration Center by leasing a large space in its headquarters to JA including utilities, maintenance and security for $1 a year. In that new space, JA BizTown will serve 8,000 elementary and middle school students each year from across its 24-county service region.
At the same time, in Finance Park the center will continue to prove personal financial planning and career exploration to give middle and middle and high school students the grounding they need to make financial decisions that last a lifetime.
The growth of Finance Park has been “huge” Mr. Nelson said, and he’s pleased that two years ago, JA USA announced that local JAs will begin working with 18- to 24-year-olds as well.
Finding ways to take financial learning to the next level for school-aged students is also important because authorities increasingly subject schools to new mandates that require students to take a financial literacy class before they graduate. JA can do that, Mr. Nelson said, because “we’ve got the curriculum.”
As his JA career wound down, Mr. Nelson told the QCBJ he also expects down the road that he will get involved as a civilian in JA again.
In the meantime, he is eager to spend more time with his wife Pam, visiting his parents who live in Georgia near his sister and doing some serious fishing for the first time in 20 years. An avid golfer, Mr. Nelson also is planning to meet a large group of friends for a retirement party on his 65th birthday at Pebble Beach.
