Kelsey Lewis is a nonprofit leader with more than 27 years of experience serving children and families. Her career has taken her from frontline DCFS caseworker to leading statewide foster care and adoption initiatives, early intervention advocacy, and programs that break cycles of poverty and give children a strong start in life.
Since 2022, Kelsey has served as Executive Director of Friends of the Children – Utah. The chapter provides long-term professional mentoring to children in grades K–12 who are facing significant cycles of poverty and adversity. Under her leadership, the organization moved from recurring deficits to a fully funded annual budget secured well ahead of fiscal year-end. She grew annual public funding by 250%, securing the largest legislative appropriation in the organization's history. She also led the chapter's first strategic plan and launched the Strengthening Family Initiative to elevate caregiver voice.
A lifelong advocate for equity and inclusion, Kelsey spent more than a decade leading family-centered early intervention services for children from birth to age three with developmental delays and disabilities. As Director of the Early Intervention Program at Kids on the Move, she created and led a statewide alliance of early intervention providers to advocate for equitable access and increased public funding for Utah's Baby Watch Early Intervention Program.
As Executive Director of Kids Who Count from 2014 to 2022, Kelsey expanded early identification and access to services for infants and toddlers. During her tenure, the organization doubled the number of children and families it served and tripled its operating budget. She added autism services, mental health support, vision and hearing screening clinics, and inclusive programming for siblings.
In 1999, she joined Utah Foster Care Foundation as Director of Recruitment. There she built and led the state's first comprehensive foster and adoptive family recruitment program, with a 17-member statewide team and a $1M budget. The program brought in more than 6,000 new families in its first decade.
Kelsey co-founded the Utah Social Innovators Alliance. Under her leadership, Friends of the Children – Utah has earned the Envision Utah Common Good Award and recognition as one of the 100 Companies Championing Women. She holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Utah.
Kelsey resides in the Salt Lake Valley with her husband. She is the proud parent of two adult, "partially launched" sons and a malamute named Akira.