Our Team

Emily Kelly

Program Coordinator

Emily Kelly serves as a Program Coordinator at SAM, where she provides administrative support for multiple associations. She joined SAM in 2024 with more than a decade of experience working in higher education.

Her past experience includes serving as associate director in the Center for Career & Professional Development at Southwestern University, assistant director of career services at the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor, and career services coordinator at Texas A&M University-Central Texas. These positions provided Emily with a strong background in programming and logistics related to professional development, workshops, mentor programs, and events. 

Emily earned her bachelor's degree in political science and master's degree in higher education and student affairs from Baylor University. She has been a member of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), the Southern Association of Colleges and Employers (SoACE), and the Central Texas Liberal Arts Career Consortium for more than 10 years, and has attended and presented at numerous conferences.

Emily has lived in Central Texas for more than 15 years. She likes to spend her free time with her husband and kids, as well as watch sports, cook, work out, and read. 

Partners: Collaborative Divorce Texas (CDT), Society for Information Management (SIM)

Family: My husband James, son Andrew, and daughter Claire.

Outside of work, I love... reading books, attending workout classes, cooking, and hanging out with my family.

My workplace superpower is... being flexible to change and organized to make big projects appear effortless.

Assessments: Guardian (Predictive Index); ISTJ (Myers-Briggs); Finder, Relator, Learner, Responsibility, Consistency, Individualization (Strengths Finder)

What inspires me about working with associations: I love to work with others to help them find work they're passionate about and have the strengths to do well. I feel like working with associations furthers that passion.

My passions and skills: I have a deep passion for nonprofits and community-driven work.

Favorite SAM core value: Stay curious. It ties into a strength of mine as a learner. I am always interested in digging into things, figuring out how to gain new information, and then applying it to the work I am doing.