Service has been the cornerstone of Kelly Powell’s professional life for over two decades and as CEO of Community Partners of South Florida, she remains a passionate advocate of improving health and socio-economic outcomes for Palm Beach County’s children and families.
A proud Hokie with a B.S. in Education from Virginia Tech University, Kelly started her career as an early interventionist for children with developmental disabilities and soon moved on to working in the field of childhood safety and injury prevention, at first with Florida Atlantic University and then with Safe Kids Worldwide, a non-profit dedicated to protecting children from preventable injury with partners in more than 30 countries and 400 coalitions in the United States including Community Partners of South Florida.
Starting at Community Partners of South Florida in 2009 as the organization’s Safe Kids director for Palm Beach County, Kelly coordinated local Safe Kids Coalitions representing over 50 community organizations, secured over $800,000 in grant funding for safety programs and obtained $100,000 in corporate funding for local comprehensive safety programs.
In addition to raising funds, Kelly excels at raising awareness, both at home and abroad. She traveled the world extensively both as a Safe Kids Worldwide Ambassador and a subject matter expert in decreasing motor vehicle injuries through training, technical assistance, resource development and communication outreach.
With 39 different districts and municipalities, Palm Beach County is representative of a myriad of different races, cultures, gender identitiesKelly translated globally as she has worked with populations as distinctive as the residents of the Arabian state of Qatar and numerous Indigenous tribal communities across North America.
Her tireless work in the community led to a promotion to Vice President of Community Services in 2019 and Kelly served in this role for three years, advancing relationships with funders and managing numerous programs with a total budget of $4 million.
In 2022, Kelly was promoted again to Chief Operating Officer where she provided oversight of a team of 230 people spread across over 40 programs and continued to work on strengthening community connections, developing strategic partnerships and managing contracts.
A little over a year later, Kelly stepped into the role she occupies today – CEO.
Celebrating her 15th anniversary at Community Partners of South Florida this summer, Kelly Powell is proud to lead a team of over 200 passionate advocates and experts in the fields of mental health, housing and community services.
She is committed to bold, visionary leadership, continuing to build trusted relationships with private and public entities to better facilitate solutions and investing in people, places, and systems so neighborhoods and residents thrive.
“I have believed in the strength of community since I started my career,” said Kelly. “We need to elevate the voices and needs of residents and work with them to facilitate lasting and meaningful positive change in their neighborhoods and I am honored to work alongside those who believe in building a stronger, safer Palm Beach County for us all.”