Then & Now: With council, Green helps shape the NWA narrative

Nate Green joined Springdale-based nonprofit Northwest Arkansas Council as communications director in 2019. Over the past four years, he’s led a successful program that has attracted remote workers and raised awareness of the region nationwide.

In 2017, Green was vice president of public relations for inVeritas in Rogers when the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal named him to the Forty Under 40 class. He was previously promoted to vice president of public relations and was responsible for opening the firm’s Rogers office.

He started work in research and consulting at inVeritas after a friend recommended he look at a career in public affairs. He previously was an attorney at Plastiras Law Firm, where he practiced estate planning and corporate and tax law.

“When I moved over to inVeritas, it wasn’t that big of a stretch,” he said. “I was practicing law, but I still got to work in legislative work during the legislative session … and then started working a little bit more with clients on the public policy/public relations side. It was a slow kind of evolution from working for clients with legal issues to more legislative issues.”

Nine years ago, the Camden native moved to Northwest Arkansas with inVeritas and has lived in Rogers since then. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Saint Louis University and a law degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

“My business degree has been useful throughout my career, learning how businesses work,” Green said. “Law degrees have a lot of utility because you learn how to read and understand complex language and problems. Problem-solving is a big part of law school. No issue is the same, and you’re applying a set of facts to a certain set of rules … to make your case and explain it in a way for people to understand — whether that’s your judge or your jury, or in the case of communications, your audience that you’re trying to communicate to.”

Green, 41, said lawyers often pursue careers outside of law and that the Northwest Arkansas Council has several employees who are lawyers and not practicing law, including CEO Nelson Peacock. Green is licensed to practice law in Arkansas and still does pro bono work for friends and family.

He said he joined the council because “I was always very interested in their impact on the community and how they were able to touch so many different areas of the community and … make such an impact. I wanted to be part of that. I thought it was cool, and Nelson and I were personal friends before I joined the council.”

As communications director, he filled a role that Rob Smith previously handled. Smith remains at the council, focusing on infrastructure and policy.

“Rob and I do things completely differently,” he joked. “I evolved the role in a way that he had not done. He was splitting his duties between communications and infrastructure.”

Green added that as the council engaged the community more, it became more active in communications.

“The role evolved, so it needed someone dedicated to it full time,” he said. “I love Rob. We get along great. He’s a great person to bounce off ideas, and we keep each other in check.”

Green manages the council’s internal and external communications. He plans events, ensures members are informed, and raises awareness of its programs throughout the area and nationwide. He also serves as the council’s media contact.

A career highlight has been raising awareness of the area through the Life Works Here campaign, which has attracted remote workers to the region. He’s led the effort since it launched in 2020 with an incentive campaign that generated over 67,000 applications and national media attention, including 1,663 media placements. It’s since evolved into an advertising campaign.

Recently, Green hired a communications coordinator to help with storytelling work. He oversees six staff members, including a creative director, a social media team and a communications team for workforce housing.

He’s a member of the Public Relations Society of America. He and his husband, Luis Gonzalez, have two children and enjoy spending time outdoors, hiking and traveling.