Steve Nissen is the President and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which promotes the business, cultural and civic well-being of Hollywood and among other activities confers the Stars on the world famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. Simultaneously, Mr. Nissen maintains a consulting practice as head of the Nissen Consulting Group. Prior to taking his current positions, from 2008-2020 Nissen was a Senior VP at NBCUniversal, responsible for state and local government affairs— from intellectual property protection, First Amendment and film production to land use and government compliance. Mr. Nissen has been the Chair of several civic organizations in L.A., including the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Central City Association, Los Angeles Economic Development Corp., FilmLA and the L.A. BioMed (now known as The Lundquist Institute). Nissen also is one of 10 Board Members of one of California’s largest charitable foundations, the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation. He has also served on the Executive Committees of the L.A. Police Foundation and Valley Industries and Commerce Association and is a Board Member of the Metropolitan YMCA.
Prior to NBCUniversal, Mr. Nissen was a partner in the national law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, representing a wide range of clients from Fortune 500 companies to nonprofit entities.
From 1999-2002, Nissen was a senior official with California Governor Gray Davis. Nissen served as the Governor’s Interim Staff Director, Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, and Senior Special Assistant for Innovation in Government. Among other tasks, he served as the Governor’s liaison to the Blue Ribbon Panel on Hate Groups, chaired by former Secretary of State Warren Christopher and former California Governor George Deukmejian.
Before joining Governor Davis’ staff, Nissen was Executive Director of the State Bar of California, then the largest private regulatory body in the nation. He took charge in the midst of a political crisis triggered by a veto of the legislation to fund the Bar. He worked closely with then Governor Pete Wilson’s office, the California Legislature and the state Supreme Court to restore funding to the State Bar while at the same time streamlining the organization’s multiple functions.
Prior to that, Nissen was President of Public Counsel Law Center, which he built into the country’s largest pro bono law firm. Under his leadership, Public Counsel grew to a staff of some 50 dedicated individuals and a cadre of 10,000 volunteer attorneys providing over $200 million worth of legal services to children, the elderly, low-income families, and nonprofit organizations. During his tenure at Public Counsel, he was also an adjunct professor at USC School of Law. He has maintained his commitment to legal services to the indigent by serving as Co-Chair of the California State Bar Legal Services Trust Fund Commission and Standing Committee member of the American Bar Association Pro Bono and Public Service Committee. He has received numerous awards for his contributions to the community in the civic, government, nonprofit, corporate and legal sectors.