Kelly Veney Darnell

Kelly Darnell is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the American Clean Power Association and President of the Clean Power Institute. She is the former Interim Chief Executive Officer and COO for the Bipartisan Policy Center.

She previously served as COO at The Executive Leadership Council, United Way of the National Capital Area and for the Washington, D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education.

Prior to her operations positions, she worked at Bank of America in Capital Markets Structured Finance, focusing on mortgage finance and derivatives.  She also practiced corporate law at Saul Ewing, LLP.

Kelly’s political positions include serving as the Federal Affairs Director for the City of Atlanta and as a Legislative Assistant for Congressman John Lewis of Atlanta in the U.S. House of Representatives.

She is the Immediate Past President of the D.C. Bar Foundation and serves on the University of Maryland and School of Public Policy Dean’s Advisory Council. She is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and has received numerous awards, including the Washington Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business Award.

She received her B.A. in Economics from Spelman College and an M.P.M. from the University of Maryland. She received her law degree from the American University, Washington College of Law.