Roger Nelson is the CEO of one of the largest local REALTOR® associations in the country, the West and Southeast REALTORS of the Valley, Inc. He started his REALTOR® association career in 2004 and has shepherded the organization through organic growth and mergers, growing it to over 25,000 members. Roger has been fortunate in his 22-year career to be involved in six association mergers by helping to promote and protect REALTORS® and their important place in the communities they serve. He loves to "sell" REALTORS®, the REALTOR® organization, and this thing called organized real estate. Roger’s favorite quote, an ancient proverb, reflects his personal values: “A society grows great when old men  plant trees under whose shade they know they’ll never sit.” Although he doesn’t consider himself an old man, he does try to live by planting trees daily among those he touches. He lives in Peoria, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix, with his wife, Marideth, and his four dogs, Gigi, Hrothgar, Ruby Sue, and Texas.