Mariah Burton Nelson is an experienced speechwriter, journalist, editor, and author who designs and delivers compelling content for variety of audiences. She has been writing and delivering keynote speeches since 1987 -- for such clients as Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, the General Services Administration, the Young Presidents Organization, and hundreds of colleges and associations.
In 2005, she led AARP's executive communications team during the successful Social Security campaign. As Chief Speechwriter and acting director of the speechwriting department at AARP, she wrote speeches for Tom Nelson (COO,) Dawn Sweeney (President, AARP Services, Inc.) and others, and supervised a department that supplied speeches, op-eds, and letters for the board of directors and executive team.
Mariah's letters on behalf of AARP executives were published in the New York Times, Washington Times, and USA Today. One speech by Tom Nelson for a Rock the Vote event was quoted on the front page of the Washington Post's Style section.
One of Mariah's own speeches ("Redefining Aging"), delivered to AARP at their annual Leadership Conference in 2004, was published in Representative American Speeches (2006) along with speeches by Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Condoleezza Rice, and George W. Bush.