ISBE School Wellness Conference

Andy Neilsen, Lead Director of Learning, is a nationally recognized coach educator who ensures training quality and alignment with UI’s SEL-based youth development model. He oversees continuous program improvement and supports both individual coaches and educators as well as schools, programs, and districts in their work to support student growth. Andy is a coach at heart. Beginning his youth development career in Chicago as a nature camp counselor, Andy has worked in affordable housing, after-school programming, and as a coach for teams from youth recreational to world champions and everything in between over the last twenty years. Professionally, Andy is drawn to the potential of sport and play for youth development, focusing on building programs in Chicago to support social-emotional learning for young people through sport and play, as well as training adults all over the country to build trauma-informed skills to broaden their programs’ ability to reach more kids.