Kelly is passionate about building a beloved community, impacting systemic change, advancing Black equity, leadership development, cross sector strategic partnerships, and building strengths-based cultures. Over the past 30 years, Kelly has co-led with iconic business, nonprofit, and civil rights leaders locally and nationally. She has been an impactful leader in nonprofit management, government and political leadership, corporate philanthropy, brand marketing and public affairs.
Ebony Magazine recognized Kelly as one of their “30 Leaders of the Future Under 30.” She was lauded the youngest alumnae and first African American to receive the Drake University Young Alumni Achievement Award. She earned an MBA in finance at Clark Atlanta University in the executive MBA program. Today’s Chicago Woman featured Kelly in the 2009 article “Working Moms Redefined.” Kelly is a proud AABLI Alumnae from Cohort 10. She is an inaugural graduate fellow of The Southern California Symposium at the University of Southern California (USC) Center for Social Innovation of the Price School of Public Policy. Kelly was an executive fellow of America’s Leaders of Change of the National Urban Fellows, and Leadership Los Angeles. Kelly also studied as a nonprofit executive fellow in the Faith Leaders Institute at the Cecil Murray Center at USC.
Kelly has a long-term history of impacting diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in governance and leadership. She co-created the National Diversity Trustee Training Program for the American Hospital Association. She is serving and has served on boards and advisory committees including the NAACP Image Awards Nominating Committee, Torrey Pines Bank Advisory Board, Bill Duke Media Foundation, Legacy Ladies Advisory Board, WXIA-TV, Southwest YMCA, the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, and alumni boards and professional associations. Kelly is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.