NewsMakers ’23: Kristi Nelson, facing the worst, took charge with a smile to re-write the rest of her story

By Judy Clabes
NKyTribune editor

Kristi Nelson is a walking, talking, living example of innate optimism that she says, simply, she was born with – a “predisposition” to thinking her “glass is always full.” She doesn’t try to understand it; it’s just who she is – and she embraces it.

Her positive attitude was her port in the storm of a cancer diagnosis that would have defeated a weaker spirit, but Kristi prevailed. She is writing an ending to her story her own way – and it includes a rewarding career, giving back in multiple and meaningful ways, a legion of friends and colleagues, and a happy family embracing the joy of life.

For all those reasons and more, Kristi Nelson serves as an inspiration and role model to all and is a Northern Kentucky Tribune 2023 NewsMaker.

Kristi Poore grew up in Northern Kentucky. Her father, Dr. Floyd Poore, was a well-known NKY physician immersed deeply in local and state politics who became Transportation Secretary in the Martha Layne Collins administration and ultimately ran unsuccessfully for governor. The Poore family was steeped in NKY history and Sunday discussions around the dinner table always involved current events. As a family, they travelled the whole state – and ultimately the rest of the country – on a motorbus, gaining important life experiences and an appreciation for what was “out in the world.” They learned a lot about “work ethic” and “community service” and about how you are measured by how “you treat the least among us.” Her formative years were meaningful – and the meaning stuck.

When an adult Kristi Nelson told her father of her rare cancer diagnosis and a malignant tumor behind her eye, he tried to remain positive, she says, but “his face told me what he couldn’t say – that I was going to die.”

But Kristi was committed to living — or dying — with no regrets. She asked, “What do I control here?” So, she went to Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, where the top doctors treat approximatel 50 of the 450 patients diagnosed each year with mucosal melanonma.

Along the way, she rubbed her “Gratitude Stone’ and thought about her life, her family relationships, and her friends – and that turned the tide.

“No matter how much fear or dispare tried to consume me,” she says, “I was uplifted by my abundance of blessings and decided to get busy living.”

Her own experience with the disease led her to a resolve to do all in her power to support St. Elizabeth Healthcare’s Cancer Center, so that others would not have to leave home to get the treatments they need. She “galvanized around a comprehensive cancer care center” in her home region. Her commitment to sharing her personal story to help raise money for the new center made a difference – and she was on the team all the way. Still is, as member of the board of trustees of St. Elizabeth Healthcare.

“I am a face of cancer, figuratively and literally. The battle scar resulting from my fight against an insidious disease is open, obvious, and always visible,” she says. “The reflection I see of myself in the mirror every day is empowering. It is an image that reaffirms my resilience amid adversity and strengthens my resolve to find purpose and meaning in this part of my life’s journey.”

Today, she is chief administrative officer and general counsel for Pomeroy, where she is responsible for the overall management of Pomeroy’s human capital management, legal affairs, and facilities.

She advises the Company on a wide range of matters including corporate compliance and strategic decisions, employee relations, company-sponsored group benefit plans and programs, workforce planning, training and development, compensation, employee retention, rewards and recognition, diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as risk management, and other legal and regulatory matters.

She earned her undergraduate degree from Arizona State University and her Juris Doctor from Salmon P. Chase College of Law. She is admitted to the Kentucky and Ohio bars.

She also serves on the Northern Kentucky Convention Center Corporation Board of Directors, and the Health Collaborative Board of Directors. She is a member of the Cincinnati Women’s Executive Forum and an advocate for the Northern Kentucky Children’s Advocacy Center.

When she counts her blessings, her husband Jeff, and their daughter Emery are at the top of the list. Her home team matters.

Everyday she tells herself: “Today is a great day.” Then she asks herself, “What am I going to do with it?”

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