Mark Kelly spent more than 16 years as a Foreign Service Officer with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). His assignments spanned energy access, crisis stabilization, national security, and agricultural development. In his final USAID position, he led the Power Africa Initiative’s Beyond the Grid team, expanding electricity access to underserved areas across sub-Saharan Africa.

Prior to that, he served as a Stabilization Officer supporting USAID’s response to Syria, working closely with U.S. Army Special Operations Civil Affairs to strengthen resilience in communities recently liberated from ISIS and facing continued pressure from the Assad regime and its Iranian and Russian backers.

Before Syria, Kelly was a Deputy Development Advisor to the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon, advising senior defense leaders on USAID programs and capabilities while helping integrate development objectives into national security planning and engagement with the geographic Combatant Commands.

Earlier overseas assignments included agricultural development positions in Afghanistan and Guatemala.

Before joining USAID, Kelly worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture on programs in Bulgaria, Mexico, and Afghanistan. He earned bachelor’s degrees in Marine Biology and Psychology from the University of North Carolina Wilmington, as well as a master’s degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and a PhD in International Management from Texas A&M University, where he contributed to Norman Borlaug Institute programs in Indonesia.