Carl Nilsson (he/him/his) is the President and founder of Field First. With 20-years experience in community organizing, Carl founded Field First to support organizations and candidates looking to achieve bold, progressive wins.
Carl has coordinated the Raise Up Massachusetts coalition for the past 5-years where he has been instrumental in crafting the strategy and driving the execution of winning campaign plans. Most recently, Carl ran a three-pronged legislative and electoral campaign program to raise the minimum wage, provide paid leave to working families, and pass a proposed constitutional amendment in Massachusetts that would create an additional tax on annual income over one million dollars to generate new revenue for transportation and education. The legislature passed a $15 minimum wage and paid leave in 2018.
Prior to founding Field First, Carl was the field director for Ed Markey’s victorious US Senate campaign in 2013 and served as Barack Obama’s state director from 2010 to 2012 where he ran the Get-Out-The-Vote program for Democrats in 2010 and was instrumental in Barack Obama’s 2012 victory in New Hampshire.
Carl also spent nine years as the campaigns director and deputy director of Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts, a grassroots political organization representing low income people and families, where he played a major role in electing dozens of non-traditional candidates to public office and won victories on progressive revenue and the minimum wage.
Carl lives in Arlington, MA with his wife Sam, daughter Rosalie, son Ricky, and dog Sly.