Kelly Shanafelt has 24 years of non-profit management and fundraising experience for organizations including MAHEC, Warren Wilson College, Asheville Community Theatre, and Big Brothers Big Sisters. She served as the Executive Director of the Friends of the WNC Nature Center (a support organization for an accredited Zoo), WNC Superheroes (an emergency needs human services organization), and Under One Sky Village (an organization working with youth in the foster system) and as the Interim Executive Director for Green Opportunities (a job skill development organization serving marginalized communities).
Kelly has also served as a Development Director, Program Director, and Grants Manager. She was also a consultant with Sims & Steele Consulting from 2015 through 2021 and continues consulting in private practice. She served as a Board member for The Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre, Parkway Playhouse, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) of WNC, Children & Friends Enrichment Center, and the Rotary Club of Asheville.
She attended Mars Hill College as a musical theatre major but shifted her focus first to arts administration and then more broadly to non-profit administration.
Kelly has one son, Nicholas, who is 20 and is a rising Junior at East Tennessee State University where he is studying video game design. She and her husband Steve, a freelance writer, moved to Washington in November, 2022 along with their extremely silly dog, Ivy. They love their new hometown and look forward to pitching in to make it the best community possible!