Anna Spangler Nelson was elected to Knight Foundation’s board of trustees in 2011. She serves on the Governance, Investment and Nominating committees. 

Nelson has served as chair of Spangler Companies, Inc., a private investment firm, since 2005.

Nelson is also a member of several other boards, including Read Charlotte, BEST NC, myFutureNC, and the Board of Dean’s Advisors at Harvard Business School. Nelson has served on the boards of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, Fidelity Charitable, Novant Health, Presbyterian Hospital, and the Arts and Sciences Council.

In 2013, The Charlotte Observer named her “2012 Woman of the Year.”

Nelson graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Wellesley College. She also earned an MBA from Harvard University.

Nelson and her husband Tom have two daughters and live in Charlotte.