Kelly Jin is chief of staff to the president and CEO and vice president for communities at Knight Foundation. She leads a team of 15 across eight offices nationwide, managing a $200 million grant portfolio, $35 million in annual grant-making, and advising on $130 million in donor-advised funds. The Community and National Initiatives team develops and manages the foundation’s investments across 26 Knight communities, guided by locally relevant strategies to support vibrant communities.

As chief of staff, Jin also oversees operations for the president’s office and serves as a senior advisor to the president and CEO, supporting strategy, advancing key initiatives and improving cross-team collaboration.

Jin previously served as chief analytics officer for New York City and director of the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics. Her team focused on delivering insights for a more equitable and efficient city and launched the NYC Recovery Data Partnership, a first-of-its-kind data-sharing effort to support COVID-19 response and recovery.

She was also a director at the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and worked in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where she advised the U.S. chief technology officer and chief data scientist. In Boston, she built and co-led the city’s analytics team, working with front-line staff to enhance data-informed decision-making.

A national speaker on data and technology’s role in improving communities, Jin’s work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Wired, and PBS NewsHour. She holds a degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania and serves as a trustee of the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science.