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.

Clients:

ROY CANNON

(Florida)
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) bestbet Jacksonville

12) BlackRock Funds Services Group, LLC

13) Boatsetter

14) Bonefish & Tarpon Trust

15) Brandt Information Services

16) Broward College Foundation

17) Broward County

18) Busch Wildlife Sanctuary

19) C.W. Roberts Contracting Inc.

20) Carlyle Investment Management L.L.C.

21) CDR Maguire

22) Chick-Fil-A, Inc.

23) Cicero Action

24) Citadel Enterprise Americas LLC

25) Citigroup Washington Inc.

26) City of Boca Raton

27) City of Coral Gables

28) City of Fort Lauderdale

29) Clara Homes

30) Cody Khan

31) Community Care Plan

32) Community US Fund Management Inc.

33) Coventry

34) CVS Health and All Affiliates

35) Delta Air Lines, Inc.

36) Development Corporation for Israel

37) DialCare, LLC.

38) Ducky Recovery, LLC.

39) Ecoresiliency Miami LLC

40) Ecosouth Florida, LLC

41) Elevated, LLC

42) Elite DNA Therapy

43) Emovis USA, Inc.

44) Environmental Resilient Communities LLC

45) EPAM Government Solutions, LLC.

46) Field of Dreams

47) Florida Alliance for Vacation Rentals

48) Florida Association of Nurse Anesthesiology

49) Florida Community Financial Services Association

50) Florida Credit Union Association

51) Florida Institute of Technology

52) Florida International University Foundation, Inc.

53) Florida Power & Light Company

54) Florida Prosecuting Attorney's Association

55) Florida Realtors

56) Florida Surplus Lines Association

57) Florida Transportation Builders Association

58) Florida Vacation Rental Management Association

59) Fox Corporation

60) G7 Security Services

61) Gartner, Inc.

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

63) Graduation Alliance, Inc.

64) Grind Hard Ammo LLC

65) Haleon Consumer Healthcare

66) Hillpointe, LLC

67) Horsepower Electric

68) INSIGHTEC

69) International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children

70) K9s for Warriors

71) Land Sea Homes

72) Lennar Homes, LLC

73) Litecon LLC

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

75) Loggerhead Marinelife Center

76) Lost Tree Village Property Owners Association, Inc.

77) Melbourne Greyhound Park

78) Memorial Healthcare System

79) Miami-Dade County

80) Monroe County Board of County Commissioners

81) Neal Land Development Group

82) New College Foundation, Inc.

83) Nile Inc.

84) OBS Real Estate Holdings, LLC

85) Ocala Breeders' Sales Company, Inc.

86) Old Republic National Title Insurance Company

87) Orange Barrel Media

88) Orlando Health

89) Palm Beach Atlantic University

90) Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office

91) Palm Beach Zoo

92) Paypal

93) PCI Gaming

94) Peregrine Technologies, Inc.

95) Polk County Board of County Commissioners

96) Primerica, Inc.

97) PrizePicks

98) Project LIFT

99) Promise Network Inc.

100) Quintessence Marine, Inc.

101) RAI Services Company

102) RELX Inc.

103) Renaissance Learning, Inc.

104) Resource Environmental Solutions, LLC

105) Ryan, LLC

106) Sacred Heart Health System, Inc.

107) SaferWatch, LLC

108) Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida

109) SAI Interactive

110) Sarasota Memorial Health Care System

111) School Board of Brevard County

112) Sellers Dorsey

113) Sobe Sky Development, LLC

114) South Automotive Group

115) St. Petersburg College Foundation

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

117) Starkey Hearing Technologies

118) Sunshine State Tag Agency LLC

119) Take Stock in Children

120) Tamiami 137, LLC

121) Tampa Bay Rays

122) The City of Miami

123) The City of Venice

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

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

126) The Everglades Trust

127) The GEO Group, Inc.

128) The North Highland Company

129) Town Of Highland Beach

130) TRC Companies, Inc.

131) University of Florida Foundation, Inc.

132) University of Florida Student Government Association

133) University of Miami

134) Veyer, LLC

135) Visa U.S.A. Inc.

136) Waste Management Inc. of Florida

137) WolfCap Team, LLC

138) Woolpert, Inc.

RYAN MATTHEWS

(Florida)

JAMES SMITH

(Florida)
  • (850) 671-4401

  • Po Box 10570TallahasseeFL32302-2570

Clients: