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) Kalshi Inc.

72) Land Sea Homes

73) Lennar Homes, LLC

74) Litecon LLC

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

76) Loggerhead Marinelife Center

77) Lost Tree Village Property Owners Association, Inc.

78) Melbourne Greyhound Park

79) Memorial Healthcare System

80) Miami-Dade County

81) Monroe County Board of County Commissioners

82) Neal Communities

83) Neal Land & Neighborhoods

84) Neal Land Development Group

85) New College Foundation, Inc.

86) Nile Inc.

87) OBS Real Estate Holdings, LLC

88) Ocala Breeders' Sales Company, Inc.

89) Old Republic National Title Insurance Company

90) Orange Barrel Media

91) Orlando Health

92) Palm Beach Atlantic University

93) Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office

94) Palm Beach Zoo

95) Paypal

96) PCI Gaming

97) Peregrine Technologies, Inc.

98) Polk County Board of County Commissioners

99) Primerica, Inc.

100) PrizePicks

101) Project LIFT

102) Promise Network Inc.

103) Quintessence Marine, Inc.

104) RAI Services Company

105) RELX Inc.

106) Renaissance Learning, Inc.

107) Resource Environmental Solutions, LLC

108) Ryan, LLC

109) Sacred Heart Health System, Inc.

110) SaferWatch, LLC

111) Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida

112) SAI Interactive

113) Sarasota Memorial Health Care System

114) School Board of Brevard County

115) Sellers Dorsey

116) Sobe Sky Development, LLC

117) South Automotive Group

118) St. Petersburg College Foundation

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

120) Starkey Hearing Technologies

121) Sunshine State Tag Agency LLC

122) Take Stock in Children

123) Tamiami 137, LLC

124) Tampa Bay Rays

125) The City of Miami

126) The City of Venice

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

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

129) The Everglades Trust

130) The GEO Group, Inc.

131) The North Highland Company

132) Town Of Highland Beach

133) TRC Companies, Inc.

134) University of Florida Foundation, Inc.

135) University of Florida Student Government Association

136) University of Miami

137) Veyer, LLC

138) Visa U.S.A. Inc.

139) Waste Management Inc. of Florida

140) WolfCap Team, LLC

141) Woolpert, Inc.

RYAN MATTHEWS

(Florida)

JAMES SMITH

(Florida)
  • (850) 671-4401

  • Po Box 10570TallahasseeFL32302-2570

Clients: