Erik Nielsen has spent nearly three decades working in education in the Santa Barbara community. He is the founder and Director of AAPLE Academy at San Marcos High School and CEO of the AAPLE Academy Foundation. Prior to founding AAPLE, he served as a counselor and department chair at San Marcos and Santa Barbara High Schools.

Mr. Nielsen earned a bachelor’s degree in Communication from San Diego State University, where he played baseball for the Aztecs, a master’s degree in Education and Counseling from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and a Juris Doctor from the Santa Barbara College of Law.

A longtime Santa Barbara resident, Mr. Nielsen has deep roots in the community. He played for the Santa Barbara Foresters during the organization’s re-formation in the early 1990s, has helped support numerous local youth leadership and service initiatives, and served for nine years on the Santa Barbara Middle School Board of Trustees, including work focused on Risk Management, Governance, and Audit initiatives.