Mariah Burton Nelson: Bio

Author/Athlete/Professional Speaker

"Think of yourself as an athlete. I guarantee you it will change the way you walk, the way you work, and the decisions you make about leadership, teamwork, and success."- MBN

Mariah Burton Nelson's Bio

Detailed bio:

Author
Professional Speaker
Columnist
Media Resource
Journalist
Speaking Coach:Speaking Success For Athletes
Former Professional Athlete
Founder Frances Willard Society
Background and Education

Honors and Awards

Author

Mariah Burton Nelson’s books include:

WE ARE ALL ATHLETES: Bringing Courage, Confidence, and Peak Performance into Our Everyday Lives (Dare Press 2002)

THE UNBURDENED HEART: Five Keys to Forgiveness and Freedom (Harper San Francisco 2000)

EMBRACING VICTORY: Life Lessons in Competition and Compassion (William Morrow 1998; Avon Paperbacks 1999)

THE STRONGER WOMEN GET, THE MORE MEN LOVE FOOTBALL: Sexism and the American Culture of Sports (Harcourt Brace 1994; Avon Paperbacks 1995)

ARE WE WINNING YET? How Women Are Changing Sports and Sports Are Changing Women (Random House 1991).

Nelson has contributed chapters or introductions to more than three dozen other books, including:

GirlWise: How to Be Capable, Cool, and In Control, by Julia DeVillers, 2002
Nike is a Goddess: The History of Women in Sports, edited by Lissa Smith (Atlantic Monthly Press, 1998) Intro by Mariah
Whatever It Takes: Women on Women's Sport, edited by Joli Sandoz and Joby Winans (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, NY, 1999) Includes chapter by Mariah
Crossing Boundaries: An International Anthology of Women's Experiences in Sport, edited by Susan Bandy and Anne Darden (Human Kinetics, IL, 1999)
Sexual Harassment in Sport: Impact, Issues, and Challenges, by Karin A.E. Volkwein-Caplain and Gopal Sankaran (Meyer & Meyer Sport, 2001) Intro by Mariah
Letters of Intent: Women Cross the Generations to Talk About Family, Work, Sex, Love and the Future of Feminism, edited by Anna Bondoc and Meg Daly (Free Press, NY, 1999)
Play Like a Girl: A Celebration of Women in Sports, edited by Sue Macy and Jane Gottesman (Henry Holt, 1999)
Encyclopedia of Women and Sport in America, edited by Carole A. Oglesby et. al (Oryx Press 1998) Intro by Mariah
A Whole Other Ball Game, edited by Joli Sandoz (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1997) Includes poem by Mariah.
The Girls’ Guide to Life, by Catherine Dee (Little, Brown 1997) Includes article by Mariah.
A Kind of Grace: A Treasury of Sportswriting by Women, edited by Ron Rapoport (Zenobia Press, 1994) Includes chapter by Mariah
Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend: Women Writers on Baseball, edited by Elinor Nauen (Faber and Faber, Boston), 1994 Includes chapter by Mariah
...and several dozen college textbook on writing.

Professional Speaker

MARIAH has been speaking professionally since 1987: to associations, corporations, colleges, government agencies, and sports groups. Clients include AARP, Accenture, American Association of University Women, American Organization of Nurse Executives, Bell Atlantic, Brim Healthcare, Fairview Health Systems, General Services Administration, IBM, Iowa Paint, Girl Scouts, Merrill Lynch, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Organization for Women, Navy Occupational Safety and Health, Nike, Physicians Mutual Insurance Company, Public Building Service, TRW, US Census Bureau, US Department of Justice, USA Today, Women in Technology, Young Presidents Organization, and hundreds of other groups.

Primary Topics: Leadership, Teamwork, Peak Performance

She also speaks on university and college campuses: Brown, Colgate, Duke, Mount Holyoke, Nebraska, Oberlin, Ohio, Radcliffe, Rutgers, Smith, and hundreds more.

She is Past-President of the National Speakers Association/Washington, D.C. Area.

Columnist

MARIAH is a former columnist for:

* Oxygen Media
* The Washington Post
* Knight-Ridder/Tribune (the first nationally syndicated women's sports column)

Journalist

MARIAH writes for (or has written for) The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Newsday, Working Woman, Ms., Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Shape, Self, USA Today, and hundreds of other publications.

Media Resource

MARIAH has appeared on Today, Good Morning America, PrimeTime Live, Dateline, Nightline, Donahue, Larry King Live, Crossfire, ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, Geraldo Rivera (five times!), National Public Radio's Diane Rehm Show, Terry Gross Show, and hundreds of other television and radio shows. Her books have been reviewed in, and/or she has been quoted in, the Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Mademoiselle, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, New York Times, Parade, Philadelphia Inquirer, Sales and Marketing Magazine, San Francisco Examiner, Seattle Times, Self, Shape, Village Voice, Washington Business Journal, Washington Post, and hundreds of other papers and magazines.

Speaking Coach: Speaking Success For Athletes

MARIAH is the co-founder and co-owner (with Arnold Sanow, MBA, CSP) of a consulting business called SPEAKING SUCCESS FOR ATHLETES: individualized coaching for athletes who want to achieve as much success on the podium as they have on the playing fields. Also available to other professional and aspiring speakers.

Former College and Professional Athlete

Mariah played basketball at Stanford (‘78), where she was the leading scorer all four years, averaging 19 points per game; one rebounding record (most in a single game: 20) remains unbroken. She also played professionally in France and in the first women’s pro league in the United States (WBL). She now swims two miles each morning, lifts weights, rides a bike, and plays golf. She also coaches her mother, Sarah, who holds three Arizona State records for women aged 75 to 79.

Frances Willard Society

Mariah founded the Frances Willard Society, an online community designed to foster teamwork and professional development among people who write about women’s sports, in December 1998. The list now has more than 130 writers. To sign up: Send an email to FWS-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Background & Education

Born in April 1956, Mariah was raised Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, then moved to Arizona with her family when she was 16. She graduated from Arcadia High School in Phoenix, received a B.A. in psychology from Stanford University in 1978, and received a masters in public health from San Jose State University in 1983. Her father is a retired hospital president; her mother is a psychiatrist; her sister is a trial lawyer; and her brother is an entertainment lawyer. Mariah lives in the Washington, D.C. area, with her life partner and their dog, Rocky.

Honors and Awards

Mariah has won numerous awards for her writing and speaking, including

* the Amateur Athletic Foundation’s Book Award (1992)
* the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Magazine Journalism Award (1988)
* the National Association of Girls and Women in Sport’s Guiding Woman in Sport Award (1996)
* Arlington (VA) County's Distinguished Woman Award (1994)
* Run, Jane, Run Nancy Rehm Memorial Award (1996)
* Induction into the National Women in Sports Hall of Fame *1996
* Communications and Leadership Award 2002, District 27 Toastmasters
* Highest Woman of Distinction Award, Greater Washington Women's Network, (2002)
* Capital Outstanding Speaker Award, National Speakers Association/Washington, D.C. Area (2003)

Mariah's book, The Unburdened Heart, was nominated for the Christopher Award, given to artists whose work "lights a candle rather than cursing the darkness." Previous award winners include Desmond Tutu, Elie Wiesel, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and Bob Hope. The winner was Lance Armstrong, for "It's Not About the Bike."

To contact Mariah about her presentations, call 703/276-8323 or write to her at Mariah@MariahBurtonNelson.com

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