Kelli Herd is the executive director of StarChild Camps. Kelli has worked as an elementary school teacher for both the Washington, DC and New York City Public School Systems. She has over ten years of experience as an educator and has created and facilitated several programs for children and youth. Kelli also worked for the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help as a Project Manager in Benin, West Africa. While in Benin, Kelli worked closely with the Beninise Prime Minister of Education conducting first-year research assessment/analysis of Beninise primary schools to create workshops and manuals that introduced new and interactive pedagogical tools for students and teachers. Ms. Herd has also worked as a community outreach organizer for the Hazelwood Initiative in Pittsburgh, PA. She served for two years as executive editor of the organization’s monthly newspaper. Most recently, Kelli served as the Director of Development for Bridge Street Development Corporation in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of New York and as the Associate Director of Institutional Relations for Literacy Partners in NYC.

Kelli holds a MPA in Nonprofit Management from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts in English also from the University of Pittsburgh.

Kelli genuinely loves working with children and introducing them to new and exciting cultures and experiences. “There is no better sound than the laughter of a child.”

Kelli has lived in Forest Hills with her son Jeremy for over ten years.