Kelsey is a proud lifelong Rhode Islander. She lives in Johnston with her husband, their dogs, and two cats.

Raised in the East Bay and the daughter of a public school teacher and construction project manager, Kelsey has been engaged in community service and advocacy since childhood. In high school, she spent 11 months in La Serena, Chile as a Rotary International exchange student. She received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Rhode Island College and her Master’s in Social Work from Simmons University. She currently works as a bilingual licensed clinical therapist in an outpatient substance use disorder treatment center in Providence. She is a licensed independent clinical social worker and a licensed chemical dependency professional. She is a proud member of both the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and the National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC). She is married to David, a lifelong Johnston resident and physician assistant. Kelsey has lived with David in his childhood home since early spring of 2017.

Kelsey was a 2020-2021 Women’s Policy Institute fellow, which allowed her the opportunity to help draft legislation that addressed the rape kit testing backlog in the state of Rhode Island. At the time of introduction, Rhode Island was one of three states that lacked legislation to ensure prompt testing of rape kits. The legislation successfully passed at the end of the 2022 session. You can read more about this legislation here. She has also assisted in the introduction and ultimate passing of a bill to protect living organ donors from discrimination from insurance companies. In addition to her years of work advocating for reproductive health rights, she has also been a fierce advocate of harm reduction policies in the treatment of substance use disorders. She remains committed to ensuring that all Rhode Islanders have access to critical treatment for both mental health and substance use disorders.

Kelsey enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and learning languages. She is a long-distance runner and participates in local races as often as she can. Kelsey loves basketball and was the sponsor of the Johnston Youth Sports 2022-2023 girls basketball champions. She and her husband David are the proud parents of a husky named Luca, a lab puppy named Oswin, and two troublemaking cats named Kissa and Samson.