As Director of People Operations at The Heritage Foundation, Kelly Adams is responsible for leading Heritage’s People team and strategy that focuses on embracing technology and data, designing a great employee experience, and attracting and retaining exceptional talent.

Kelly joined Heritage in 2014 as a Personnel Associate, and was promoted to Senior Personnel Manager in 2018, and then to Director in 2019. Before joining Heritage, Kelly oversaw the day-to-day Human Resources functions in her role as HR manager at the Committee for Economic Development (CED).

She holds a master’s degree in Clinical Counseling from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and a bachelor’s degree in History and Sociology from Hood College in Frederick, Maryland. She obtained the SHRM-SCP (Society for Human Resource Management – Certified Senior Professional) certification in 2022.