Kelly currently serves as the Director of the NC Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Use Services (DMHDDSUS), with responsibility and oversight of the public community-based mental health, intellectual and other developmental disabilities, substance use, and traumatic brain injury system in North Carolina.

Kelly is a licensed clinical social worker who has supported people with mental illness, substance use disorders, and intellectual/developmental disabilities her entire adult life. She began volunteering in the community with individuals who have intellectual and developmental disabilities in high school, and she started her career as a mental health clinician serving children in foster care and juvenile justice settings as well as adults and children with co-occurring conditions.

Kelly has worked for multiple non-profit organizations that support individuals with behavioral health and substance use needs and intellectual and developmental disabilities in a range of capacities, from Development Officer to Chief Strategy Officer to Chief Operating Officer. In each setting, her work was dedicated to promoting greater self-determination and equity. From 2008-2012 she was the Assistant Director for Behavioral Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities at NC Medicaid, where she oversaw benefits such as the Innovations Waiver before being named NC Medicaid’s Chief Operating Officer in 2013. Most recently, Kelly served as the Chief Quality Officer for the Division of Health Benefits (formerly NC Medicaid). In that role, she oversaw all Quality Programs aimed at improving health outcomes and promoting health equity. She also directed all Care Management Programs, including Tailored Care Management, which is designed to provide comprehensive whole-person care management support for members with mental illness, substance use disorder, and intellectual and developmental disabilities.

From 2000-2008, Kelly worked as a Social Work instructor at universities in Texas and New Jersey and provided direct care as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker both in community mental health and in primary care. From 1998-2000, Kelly worked on research projects for the Philadelphia Department of Recreation and on the Philadelphia Mayors Report Card for the City.

Kelly received her Master’s Degree in Social Work Administration from Temple University and her Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. She is an appointed member of the NC Institute of Medicine, the HCP-LAN 2.0 Care Transformation Forum and the Health Equity Advisory Team (HEAT), the NCQA Public Sector Advisory Committee and Equity Standards subcommittee; and she has served on multiple Technical Advisory Panels (TEP) for CMS/CMMI and NQF initiatives