Kelly came to CU Denver as a lecturer in 2019, receiving the Outstanding Lecturer Award in Spring of 2020. She earned her B.A. in Psychology and Criminology from the University of South Florida in 2013 and her M.C.J from the University of Colorado in 2018. She has worked in the criminal justice system in a variety of positions, with exposure to the judicial system, criminal justice policy, offender treatment, and homeland security. She worked as a probation officer in Colorado's 1st Judicial District, as a statistical analyst for the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice's Office of Domestic Violence and Sex Offender Management, as an intelligence analyst for the Colorado Information Analysis Center, and currently as a Criminal Intelligence Analyst for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office in Florida.