Kelly McFarland Stratman is an ASAE-certified association executive (CAE) currently serving as the Chief of Staff of the League of Women Voters of the United States. Kelly brings more than 25 years of nonprofit leadership experience, with a focus on fostering innovation and transformative change.
In her 21-year tenure in the League’s national office, Kelly has held multiple leadership positions. For over a decade, Kelly worked in the membership/field support area, building capacity among the organization’s 750 volunteer-led affiliates. She has managed numerous major League initiatives, including the Membership and Leadership Development (MLD) program, the Citizen Initiative for Transparency, and Local Voices: Citizen Conversations on Civil Liberties and Secure Communities. Most recently, she has focused on organization-wide culture change, through governance, strategic planning, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Prior to joining the League’s national office, Kelly served as the Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio, where she managed the state office, coordinated lobbying activities, and managed grant-funded citizen education and advocacy efforts, including leading a redistricting coalition and ballot initiative.
Outside of LWV, Kelly sits on the board of AFS-USA and is a member of the ASAE’s Certified Association Executive (CAE) provider committee, a governing body working on professional development credentialing.
Before her work at the League, Kelly lived and worked for four years in Japan, where she leveraged her academic background in international relations while working in a regional Board of Education. These days, Kelly makes her home in northern Virginia with her husband, Steve, and their two college-aged daughters.