Kelly Connors is a colorful and creative innovation strategist and project manager, passionate about gender equity and international development with 10+ years of professional work experience both in the U.S. and abroad. Kelly has a Master’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Public Policy as well as experience in management consulting in both the public and private sector giving her a balanced view of working with public and private actors to solve complex problems.
Prior to coming to GHV, Kelly spent the last 2+ years at Deloitte Consulting, where she managed human-centered design and innovation strategy projects, primarily for global health care companies. At Deloitte, Kelly worked with researchers, designers and strategists to conduct ethnographic and behavioral research to understand complex problems and inform designs of new services or products to greatly improve their experiences. Kelly was also a part of Deloitte’s equity-centered design group, developing design methods to ensure diversity is thoughtfully analyzed as a part of the design process. In 2018, Kelly published research in an article, “Designing Equality”, which was circulated through the Wall Street Journal on how human-centered design can be used to reduce the impacts of implicit gender bias in the workplace.
Prior to her MBA, Kelly worked in Deloitte Consulting’s public sector practice, primarily on large international development projects with USAID in Latin America, the Caribbean and the Middle East. She is also a returned Peace Corps Volunteer where she served as an economic development volunteer and regional volunteer leader in the Dominican Republic.
On a personal level, Kelly is an avid outdoor enthusiast and runner. She has run over 10 marathons, including multiple Boston marathons and recently climbed Kilimanjaro.