What distinguishes The Southern Group from others is where we draw our lobbyists from. Our lobbyists are almost all exclusively former government regulators, legislators or high-level government staff. We know what moves the wheels of government because, at one point in our careers, we moved those wheels ourselves.

15-20 years

National Children's Alliance, Bud Cramer Award
Florida Bar, Family Law Section, Legislative Achievement
Kristi House Service, Former President Service Award

SSG has won numerous fundraising awards and recognitions
Managing Partner, Miami office, The Southern Group
Chairman, Republican Party of Miami-Dade County
Executive Board, Republican Party of Florida

Nelson D. Diaz concentrates his practice on government and community relations. Nelson has successfully represented local governments, businesses, trade associations and other corporate clients before the Florida legislative and executive branches of government. Nelson has become one of Florida's young rising stars since serving as Chief Legislative Aide to the Former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, and now United States Senator, Marco Rubio.

In addition, Nelson has successfully represented corporate entities before the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners, numerous Miami-Dade County agencies and departments, the City of Miami, the City of Hialeah, and several other municipal governments and authorities in Miami-Dade County. In addition to government relations, Nelson has successfully guided many corporate clients entering the South Florida market, providing community relations services. By advising new entrants to the market on who the key players are, which organizations to join, and how to navigate the local political waters, Nelson has assisted many clients successfully enter the South Florida and Miami markets.

Nelson began his political career as a volunteer in the 1996 Presidential campaign in Florida where he and many other young leaders, including now U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, State Senator Anitere Flores, Lt. Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera, and many other now-elected officials, worked hard to build a strong Republican Party base in South Florida. Since then, Nelson has worked on countless political campaigns in Florida from federal races for Presidential and U.S. Senate, to state races for Governor, Cabinet offices, Florida House of Representatives, and Florida Senate, as well as many local government campaigns for county commission, city councils, and mayor's races. Nelson has also been active in various business and civic organizations locally, and counts many legislators, party officials, and legislative leaders among his personal friends. As a result of Nelson's service with U.S. Senator Rubio and his involvement in many campaigns, Nelson has established an extensive network of key contacts in Miami-Dade County and within the Florida Legislature. In fact, Nelson currently serves as the Chairman of the Republican Party of Miami-Dade County and serves on the executive board of the Republican Party of Florida.

Active in the local community, Nelson served on the City of Miami's Historical and Environmental Preservation Board, protecting the city's historical and environmental treasures, as well as the Miami-Dade County Community Council of West Kendall, a local land use and zoning board. Additionally, Nelson serves as the Immediate Past President of the Board of Directors for Kristi House, Miami-Dade County's child advocacy center for child victims of sexual abuse and human trafficking as well as the Board of Directors of the Good Government Initiative, a bi-partisan organization dedicated to cultivating leaders of excellence in South Florida. Recently, Florida Governor Rick Scott appointed Nelson to the statewide Children and Youth Cabinet for his service and advocacy on behalf of Florida's children.

Nelson attended Florida International University, where he earned his Bachelor's degree in International Relations, with a Certificate in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, as well as minors in Political Science and Geography. Nelson graduated from the University of Florida, College of Law, cum laude, and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2004.

RONALD BOOK

(Florida)
  • (305) 935-1866

  • 4000 Hollywood Blvd.Suite 677-SHollywoodFL33021

Clients:

56) Florida Smoke Free Association

57) Fort Myers Community Redevelopment Agency

58) Gannett Media Group

59) Gate301 Miami, Inc.

60) Gift of Life Adoptions

61) Gold Coast Beverage Distributors, Inc

62) Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, Inc.

63) Grant Street Group

64) Hard Rock Stadium

65) JARC Florida

66) Jewish Community Services of South Florida

67) K.A.S & Associates, Inc.

68) Keiser University

69) Lauren's Kids

70) League of Southeastern Credit Unions

71) Learning Ally

72) MACtown

73) Martin Property Holdings Co. 1, LLC

74) MB437, LLC

75) Miami Beach Community Health Center

76) Miami Jewish Health Systems

77) Miami Project/Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis

78) Miami-Dade County

79) Miami-Dade County Public Schools

80) Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization (TPO)

81) Museum of Discovery & Science

82) Neptune Wholesale, Inc

83) New Horizons Community Mental Health Center, Inc

84) North Broward Hospital District (d/b/a Broward Health)

85) OpenGov

86) Pelican Harbor Seabird Station

87) Penn Credit

88) Performance Title Services, Inc

89) Public Health Trust-Jackson Memorial Hospital

90) Reyes Holdings, L.L.C.

91) Safe Children Coalition

92) SEED Foundation, Inc., The

93) Seminole County Board of County Commissioners

94) Solemia

95) South Broward Hospital District

96) South West Florida Enterprises

97) The GEO Group, Inc.

98) Title Clerk Consulting Company, LLC

99) Town of Davie

100) Town of Fort Myers Beach

101) Town of Loxahatchee Groves

102) Underdog Sports

103) University Area Community Development Corporation

104) University of Miami

105) Village of Estero

106) Village of Palm Springs

107) Village of Royal Palm Beach

108) Vitas Healthcare Corporation

109) White Rock Quarries

110) Whitman Family Development

RANA BROWN

(Florida)
  • (305) 935-1866

  • 4000 Hollywood Blvd.Ste. 677-SHollywoodFL33021

Clients:
  • (850) 222-9075

  • 124 W Jefferson StreetOPB-DIRTallahasseeFL32301

Clients:
Clients:

1) Accenture LLP

2) Adelanto HealthCare Ventures, LLC

3) Advocating for Seniors

4) Ajax Building Company, LLC

5) American Traffic Solutions, Inc. d/b/a Verra Mobility

6) AshBritt, Inc.

7) Associated Industries of Florida, Inc.

8) Assurant Group

9) AT&T Services, Inc.

10) Atkins North America, Inc.

11) Bentley Bay Retail LLC.

12) bestbet Jacksonville

13) BlackRock

14) Bloom Retirement Holdings Inc.

15) Boatsetter

16) Bonefish & Tarpon Trust

17) Brandt Information Services

18) Broward College Foundation

19) Broward County

20) Busch Wildlife Sanctuary

21) C.W. Roberts Contracting Inc.

22) Carlyle Investment Management L.L.C.

23) CDR Maguire

24) ChenMed LLC

25) Chick-Fil-A, Inc.

26) Cicero Action

27) Citadel Enterprise Americas LLC

28) Citigroup Washington Inc.

29) City of Boca Raton

30) City of Coral Gables

31) City of Fort Lauderdale

32) Clara Homes

33) Cody Khan

34) Common Sense Action for America

35) Community Care Plan

36) Community US Fund Management Inc.

37) Coventry

38) CVS Health and All Affiliates

39) Dealer Services Network, LLC

40) Delta Air Lines, Inc.

41) DialCare, LLC.

42) Ducky Recovery, LLC.

43) East Coast Zoological Society of Florida

44) Ecoresiliency Miami LLC

45) Ecosouth Florida, LLC

46) Elevated, LLC

47) Elite DNA Therapy

48) Emovis USA, Inc.

49) Environmental Resilient Communities LLC

50) EPAM Government Solutions, LLC.

51) Ferrovial Vertiports US, LLC

52) Field of Dreams

53) Florida Association of Nurse Anesthesiology

54) Florida Community Financial Services Association

55) Florida Cultural Alliance

56) Florida Independent Physician Practice Association

57) Florida Institute of Technology

58) Florida International University Foundation, Inc.

59) Florida Power & Light Company

60) Florida Prosecuting Attorney's Association

61) Florida Realtors

62) Florida Surplus Lines Association

63) Florida Transportation Builders Association

64) Florida Vacation Rental Management Association

65) Fox Corporation

66) Gartner, Inc.

67) George Hackney Inc. d/b/a Trulieve

68) GoBrands, Inc.

69) Grind Hard Ammo LLC

70) Haleon Consumer Healthcare

71) Health Foundation of South Florida

72) Hillpointe, LLC

73) Horsepower Electric

74) INSIGHTEC

75) International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children

76) Jupiter Island Forever Advocacy, Inc.

77) K9s for Warriors

78) Land Sea Homes

79) League of Southeastern Credit Unions

80) Lennar Homes, LLC

81) Little Havana Activities & Nutrition Centers of Dade County, Inc.

82) Loggerhead Marinelife Center

83) Lost Tree Village Property Owners Association, Inc.

84) Media Choice, LLC

85) Melbourne Greyhound Park

86) Memorial Healthcare System

87) Miami-Dade County

88) National Rental Home Council

89) Neal Land Development Group

90) New College Foundation, Inc.

91) NJ Lotto d/b/a The Lotter

92) O3 Worldwide, Inc.

93) OBS Real Estate Holdings, LLC

94) Ocala Breeders' Sales Company, Inc.

95) Old Republic National Title Insurance Company

96) Orange Barrel Media

97) Orlando Health

98) Palm Beach Atlantic University

99) Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office

100) Palm Beach Zoo

101) Park Maitland School

102) Paypal

103) PCI Gaming

104) Polk County Board of County Commissioners

105) Precision Healthcare

106) Primerica, Inc.

107) PrizePicks

108) Project LIFT

109) Promise Network Inc.

110) PropLogix, LLC

111) Quintessence Marine, Inc.

112) RAI Services Company

113) RELX Inc.

114) Renaissance Learning, Inc.

115) Resource Environmental Solutions, LLC

116) Sacred Heart Health System, Inc.

117) SaferWatch, LLC

118) Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida

119) SAI Interactive

120) Sarasota Memorial Health Care System

121) School Board of Brevard County

122) Sellers Dorsey

123) Shoma Homes

124) SI Group Client Services

125) Sobe Sky Development, LLC

126) South Automotive Group

127) St. Petersburg College Foundation

128) St. Vincent's Health System, Inc.

129) Starkey Hearing Technologies

130) Sunshine State Tag Agency LLC

131) Take Stock in Children

132) Tamiami 137, LLC

133) Tampa Bay Rays

134) Tenderheart Health Outcomes

135) THE CENTER FOR ARTS & INNOVATION, INC.

136) The City of Miami

137) The City of Venice

138) The Coalition of Attainable Housing Providers of Florida, Inc.

139) The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Inc.

140) The Everglades Trust

141) The GEO Group, Inc.

142) The North Highland Company

143) Town Of Highland Beach

144) Town of Jupiter Island

145) University of Florida Foundation, Inc.

146) University of Florida Student Government Association

147) University of Miami

148) Vaxxinity, Inc.

149) Veyer, LLC

150) Visa U.S.A. Inc.

151) Vista Motor Company

152) Woolpert, Inc.

KELLY MALLETTE

(Florida)
  • (305) 935-1866

  • 4000 Hollywood Blvd.Ste 677-SHollywoodFL33021

Clients:

51) Fort Myers Community Redevelopment Agency

52) Gannett Media Group

53) Gift of Life Adoptions

54) Gold Coast Beverage Distributors, Inc

55) Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, Inc.

56) Grant Street Group

57) Hard Rock Stadium

58) JARC Florida

59) Jewish Community Services of South Florida

60) K.A.S & Associates, Inc.

61) Keiser University

62) Lauren's Kids

63) League of Southeastern Credit Unions

64) Learning Ally

65) MACtown

66) MB437, LLC

67) Miami Beach Community Health Center

68) Miami Jewish Health Systems

69) Miami Project/Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis

70) Miami-Dade County

71) Miami-Dade County Public Schools

72) Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization (TPO)

73) Neptune Wholesale, Inc

74) New Horizons Community Mental Health Center, Inc

75) North Broward Hospital District (d/b/a Broward Health)

76) OpenGov

77) Pelican Harbor Seabird Station

78) Penn Credit

79) Public Health Trust-Jackson Memorial Hospital

80) Reyes Holdings, L.L.C.

81) Safe Children Coalition

82) SEED Foundation, Inc., The

83) Seminole County Board of County Commissioners

84) Solemia

85) South Broward Hospital District

86) South West Florida Enterprises

87) The GEO Group, Inc.

88) Town of Davie

89) Town of Fort Myers Beach

90) Town of Loxahatchee Groves

91) Underdog Sports

92) University Area Community Development Corporation

93) University of Miami

94) Village of Estero

95) Village of Palm Springs

96) Village of Royal Palm Beach

97) Vitas Healthcare Corporation

98) White Rock Quarries

99) Whitman Family Development

CHRISTOPHER SCHOONOVER

(Florida)
Clients:

1) Accenture LLP

2) Adelanto HealthCare Ventures, LLC

3) Advocating for Seniors

4) American Traffic Solutions, Inc. d/b/a Verra Mobility

5) Associated Industries of Florida, Inc.

6) Atkins North America, Inc.

7) bestbet Jacksonville

8) Bloom Retirement Holdings Inc.

9) Bonefish & Tarpon Trust

10) Brandt Information Services

11) Broward College Foundation

12) Broward County

13) Busch Wildlife Sanctuary

14) Carlyle Investment Management L.L.C.

15) CDR Maguire

16) ChenMed LLC

17) Chick-Fil-A, Inc.

18) Cicero Action

19) Citadel Enterprise Americas LLC

20) Citigroup Washington Inc.

21) City of Coral Gables

22) City of Fort Lauderdale

23) Clara Homes

24) Common Sense Action for America

25) Community Care Plan

26) Community US Fund Management Inc.

27) Coventry

28) Dealer Services Network, LLC

29) Delta Air Lines, Inc.

30) DialCare, LLC.

31) Ducky Recovery, LLC.

32) East Coast Zoological Society of Florida

33) Elevated, LLC

34) Elite DNA Therapy

35) Ferrovial Vertiports US, LLC

36) Field of Dreams

37) Florida Association of District School Superintendents

38) Florida Association of Nurse Anesthesiology

39) Florida Community Financial Services Association

40) Florida Cultural Alliance

41) Florida Independent Physician Practice Association

42) Florida Institute of Technology

43) Florida International University Foundation, Inc.

44) Florida Power & Light Company

45) Florida Realtors

46) Florida Surplus Lines Association

47) Florida Vacation Rental Management Association

48) Fox Corporation

49) Gartner, Inc.

50) George Hackney Inc. d/b/a Trulieve

51) GoBrands, Inc.

52) Grind Hard Ammo LLC

53) Haleon Consumer Healthcare

54) Health Foundation of South Florida

55) Hillpointe, LLC

56) Horsepower Electric

57) INSIGHTEC

58) International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children

59) K9s for Warriors

60) Land Sea Homes

61) League of Southeastern Credit Unions

62) Lennar Homes, LLC

63) Little Havana Activities & Nutrition Centers of Dade County, Inc.

64) Loggerhead Marinelife Center

65) Lost Tree Village Property Owners Association, Inc.

66) Melbourne Greyhound Park

67) Memorial Healthcare System

68) National Rental Home Council

69) Neal Land Development Group

70) New College Foundation, Inc.

71) O3 Worldwide, Inc.

72) OBS Real Estate Holdings, LLC

73) Ocala Breeders' Sales Company, Inc.

74) Old Republic National Title Insurance Company

75) Oportun, Inc.

76) Orange Barrel Media

77) Orlando Health

78) Palm Beach Atlantic University

79) Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office

80) Palm Beach Zoo

81) Palo Alto Networks, Inc.

82) Park Maitland School

83) Paypal

84) Polk County Board of County Commissioners

85) PrizePicks

86) Project LIFT

87) Promise Network Inc.

88) Quintessence Marine, Inc.

89) RAI Services Company

90) RELX Inc.

91) Renaissance Learning, Inc.

92) Resource Environmental Solutions, LLC

93) Sacred Heart Health System, Inc.

94) Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida

95) SAI Interactive

96) Sarasota Memorial Health Care System

97) School Board of Brevard County

98) Sellers Dorsey

99) Shoma Homes

100) SI Group Client Services

101) Sobe Sky Development, LLC

102) St. Petersburg College Foundation

103) St. Vincent's Health System, Inc.

104) Starkey Hearing Technologies

105) Sunshine State Tag Agency LLC

106) Take Stock in Children

107) Tampa Bay Rays

108) Tenderheart Health Outcomes

109) THE CENTER FOR ARTS & INNOVATION, INC.

110) The City of Miami

111) The City of Venice

112) The Coalition of Attainable Housing Providers of Florida, Inc.

113) The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Inc.

114) The Everglades Trust

115) The GEO Group, Inc.

116) The North Highland Company

117) Town of Jupiter Island

118) University of Florida Foundation, Inc.

119) University of Florida Student Government Association

120) University of Miami

121) Vaxxinity, Inc.

122) Veyer, LLC

123) Visa U.S.A. Inc.

124) Woolpert, Inc.