Kelly Mitchell

Kelly was born and raised in Rhode Island and graduated in 1993 from Rhode Island College with a BA in Economics and Business Management. She spent years of her childhood visiting and recreating in Sun Valley as her parents had a second home here, she eventually moved to the valley in 1993 and started a family.

In 2016, personal life changes encouraged her to follow her dreams of spending her days supporting and improving the lives of animals – which led Kelly to Mountain Humane.  She has had the privilege of working in several leadership roles since joining the organization, including Programs Director, Marketing Director, and now Senior Director of Shelter Operations and Outreach. Kelly has over 6 years in Animal Welfare leadership and best practices.

She has recently completed the University of Wisconsin-Madison Shelter Medicine Northern Tier Shelter Fellowship certification. This educational opportunity was a year-long fellowship, with a number of shelters in 5 Northwestern States (including Alaska).  The Fellowship focussed on shelter medicine, animal care, managed intakes, open adoptions, and other industry changes, trends, and best practices.

Kelly is also newly certified in Diversity & Inclusion through McNeil & Co.  This course focussed on ensuring inclusivity among employees, customers, and friends of Mountain Humane.  She is proud of how this helps me better serve the communities under-resourced and indigenous groups.

Kelly enjoys spending time with her grown daughter – together they have 2 horses (Ringo and Luxembourg), 1 miniature horse (Reba) 1 dog (Bruno), and 2 cats, Willa & Walter.