Chief Financial Officer Colleen Kelly was named 2024 CFO of the Year and a Corporate Leader for her dedication to KenCrest’s success.
By Sydney Kerelo
KenCrest Chief Financial Officer Colleen Kelly has been named a 2024 Corporate Leader by the Philadelphia Business Journal and CFO of the Year by the Main Line Chamber of Commerce.
Colleen Kelly has worked for KenCrest for 29 years, helping the organization thrive and grow. Right before taking on her role as CFO three years ago, Kelly successfully negotiated switching banks, allowing the organization to receive reduced financing and save the agency $500,000.
As CFO, Colleen Kelly faced the unprecedented challenge of the Coronavirus pandemic head-on. Despite the global crisis, she managed to not only maintain the company’s funding but also increase revenue by 2.4 percent. Her strategic decisions allowed KenCrest to weather the storm without laying off any employees. In fact, she even managed to give a $2.50-an-hour wage increase to the Direct Support Professionals, a testament to her commitment to the well-being of the organization's staff. Her current efforts to secure funding for another wage increase for the DSPs underscores Colleen’s drive to support our entire community even as state budgets sit in limbo. (this still sounds weird to me, couldn’t quite get it where I wanted – trying to say she does more than the gov’t who sets the rates without being overly aggressive)
When Kelly was an accounting student at Lehigh University she already knew that she wanted a career where her love of numbers and problem solving could match with her dedication to make a positive impact in her community. Right out of college, she became a public accountant for six years before she found her calling in the human services industry with KenCrest.
She is a firm believer in the need for representation in people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, especially young children. When she first began working with KenCrest, she was in the Children’s programs, working with our Early Learning Centers, Early Intervention services, and Children’s Transitional Care Homes. She was in the fiscal department, then worked as an assistant controller, controller, Vice President of Finance, and finally CFO.
For many years, Kelly has been a devoted advocate for the people KenCrest supports and all of the organization’s employees. Her team and she have dedicated countless extra hours to ensure the organization's success and that all its employees are cared for. She is also very devoted to KenCrest’s Rod Hibbard Fund, which started in 1995 when a former staff member passed away and wanted their life insurance policy to be used at KenCrest to help employees undergoing tragic loss. Today, this fund allows employees who have lost their homes to fires, experienced a family member pass away, or suffered other unforeseen challenges.
On June 27th, Colleen Kelly was recognized by the Main Line Chamber of Commerce during a Celebration of Business Leadership event at the Radnor Valley Country Club. On July 11th, she was identified during an awards program at the Grand Belle at The Bellevue Hotel and featured in a special edition of the Business Journal.
Congratulations Colleen!!