Kelly is a prominent strategist and researcher who has worked across the value chain of education planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries.  Kelly’s work focuses on the thematic areas of literacy, connecting education to the world of work, and the use of AI and technology in education.

Her past projects include the Bridges to the Future South Africa 2 initiative, a literacy through technology programme in four African languages that won the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy, the PSET CLOUD, an ambitious initiative to create an interoperable data ecosystem in South Africa, and the development of an AI student competency framework for UNESCO.