Kelly Darnell serves as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the American Clean Power Association and President of the Clean Power Institute. In her role as COO, she oversees the organization’s internal operations, which encompass board governance, conferences and events, finance, human resources, information technology, and corporate legal matters. As President, she is responsible for shaping the strategy and enhancing the financial capacity of the organization’s philanthropic initiatives.
Previously, Ms. Darnell held the position of Interim Chief Executive Officer and COO at the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), where she focused on key policy areas such as health, economic policy, and energy.

Her extensive experience includes serving as the Executive Vice President and COO at The Executive Leadership Council, and COO of the United Way of the National Capital Area and for the Washington, D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education, where she successfully led the Student Transportation division out of a decades long court receivership. Throughout her career as COO, she has managed internal operations, board governance, finance, development, human resources, IT, marketing and communications, and member services. 

Prior to her operations positions, she worked at Bank of America in Capital Markets Structured Finance, focusing on mortgages and other consumer loan products. She 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 in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ms. Darnell is a member of the D.C. Bar and previously served as President of the D.C. Bar Foundation’s Board of Directors. She is actively involved in various organizations, including the University of Maryland School of Public Policy’s Advisory Council and serves on the Board of Directors for the Alliance to Save Energy and the House at 1229. A Woodrow Wilson and Congressional Black Caucus Fellow, she has received numerous accolades, including the Washington Business Journal’s Minority Business Leader Award and Women Who Mean Business Award, and the Smart CEO Executive Management 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.