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Dr. Kelli Perkins
Board Member - she/her
Kelli brings a lifetime of personal and professional experience helping youth to find their voice and passions while standing for their rights. She is laser focused on supporting staff who are on the frontlines of changemaking at Outright.
Kelli has always had a fierce passion for justice, equity, and inclusion. Growing up, community care was a core value in Kelli’s household - and if folks didn’t have a place in their own home, they would find their place in hers. Kelli learned early to stand up for others, even if that made things harder for her, because injustice anywhere is and will always be a substantial threat to justice everywhere.
Kelli currently serves as the Human Resources and Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Director at Vital Communities. In her daily life and in her work with Outright, she is committed to ensuring all humans - especially those most vulnerable to the impacts of systemic marginalization - can find their place in the world.
Kelli holds a doctorate in higher education administration from Northeastern University. Her research focuses on the experience of Black women in executive level leadership, building and sustaining inclusive and restorative communities, and identity-conscious supervision in the workplace. Kelli spent 19 years serving students across 8 states and D.C. as a secondary and post-secondary education administrator. As the Dean of Student Life & Culture at an independent school in Northern Virginia, Kelli seized the opportunity to push forward transformative initiatives to support LGBTQ+ students, including developing a gender support plan for students who were transitioning, serving on a Board committee to redefine “girls’ school,” and creating space for students to explore gender and sexuality across race, class, and other identities.
In her free time, Kelli can be found traveling the country and world, enjoying a large range of reality TV, or cooking for her husband and stepson like she’s auditioning for a head chef role at a Michelin star restaurant!
