Kim Nelson joined Sun Devils Athletics in November 2018 serving as Special Assistant to Jean Boyd and assisting Christina Wombacher with support for Vice President to University Athletics, Ray Anderson. In February 2021, Kim was promoted to Mr. Anderson’s Executive Assistant. Her primary responsibilities are meeting and event coordination, travel arrangements, and special projects with other duties supporting the department and university.
Kim was a multi-sport athlete growing up, focusing on basketball and volleyball at Miramonte High School in Orinda, CA. A 2006 graduate of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, she studied Recreation, Parks, and Tourism with a concentration in Special Events and Sports Management. While at Cal Poly she helped found the Women’s Club Volleyball Team where she played as a defensive specialist/libero and coached volleyball at San Luis Obispo High School. Since graduating, Kim has gained both knowledge and experience working in various industries and organizations, including the Cypress Ridge Pavilion, Embassy Suites and Hyatt Regency hotels, Alpha Omega Winery, Reno Aces, and CSC Event Staff and Security. Before joining Sun Devil Athletics, Kim was a Senior Administrative Assistant to several executives on the Digital Team at GE Healthcare including on-site support for the Chief Information Officer.
With athletics running in her veins, she has always felt a calling to the sports world, specifically college athletics. She and her younger brother, Robert Desimone, were born into a sports family. Her father, Steve Desimone, was a basketball player at Cal in the late 1960’s and the Submarine Forces Pacific Fleet in Hawaii (SUBPAC) in the early 1970’s. He began his coaching career at The College Preparatory High School in Oakland, CA in 1972 as the Athletic Director and Varsity Basketball Coach. He became the part-time Head Men’s Golf Coach at Cal in 1979, moving to a full-time position in 1988, and retiring in 2016. Her mother, Linda Desimone, started girls’ volleyball, basketball, and softball at San Marino High School in San Marino, CA in the early 1970’s. She played volleyball at Pasadena City College and then Cal. Linda began her 36-year career as a Volleyball Coach at College Prep and later became Athletic Director in 1989, also retiring in 2016. Having seen the dedication and positive impacts her parents made in their professions throughout her life, Kim too wanted to help student-athletes chase their dreams and prepare for their futures.
When Kim is not working she enjoys spending time with her husband, Zach, family and friends, watching and attending sporting events, cinematic adventures, staying active, and finding journeys to go on.