Nelson Soler, Ph.D.
Nelson Soler is an innovative entrepreneur who has founded three for-profit and three nonprofit organizations. Soler has utilized his educational and advocacy capacities to facilitate the formation of more than 6,200 enterprises in the greater Milwaukee area. He is an active adjunct faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Thousands of individuals have benefited from Soler’s expertise in entrepreneurship, accounting, nonprofit management and marketing. Soler’s accomplishments received recognition by the national and local media. As a result of that recognition, Soler received the United States Small Business Administration Award from the State of Wisconsin in 2007. In 2009, Soler was named the Chamber Executive of the Year for Region 4 (IA, IN, IL, KY, OH, MN, MI and WI) by the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Soler was also named the 2011 UMOS Hispanic Man of the Year for his contributions to the advancement of the Latino and received an Individual Inner-City Award by the Greater Milwaukee Committee. In 2012, the Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee named Soler the Entrepreneur of the Year. Additionally, Soler has been named the Inspirational Entrepreneur of 2017 by Bizstars and received the Community Business Development Award in 2018 by Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Recently in 2020, Soler was named one of the 39th Most Influential Latinos in Wisconsin by the Madison 365.
Soler has diverse professional experience in banking, international business, mining equipment manufacturing, academia, real estate and the electric utility industry. He has led teams in business development, global sales and documentation, ERP systems upgrade, corporate communications and training.
His education includes a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the State University of New York of Buffalo, a Masters in Business Administration, and a Masters in International Business and Marketing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a Ph.D. in Leadership for the Advancement of Learning and Service from Cardinal Stritch University. Soler also graduated from Future Milwaukee Community Leadership Program and the Associates in Commercial Real Estate Program from Marquette University. Additionally, he holds a Wisconsin Real Estate Broker’s License, a Next Level Entrepreneurial Instructor Certification, an Economic Development Financial Professional designation, an Enrolled Agent Designation by the U.S. Department of Treasury and a QuickBooks ProAdvisor Certification.
