Kelly named assistant director at Cornell’s Smith Family Business Initiative

ITHACA, N.Y. — Erin Kelly, of Cortland, has joined the Smith Family Business Initiative (SFBI) at Cornell University as its new assistant director.

The SFBI seeks to support and strengthen the network of owners, leaders, and alumni that work in or with family businesses, according to its website. Founded in 2014 in Cornell’s SC Johnson College of Business, through a $10 million gift from John and Dyan Smith, the SFBI provides education, networking, and information to family business owners, successors, and students from across the globe.

Kelly will focus on expanding the campus presence of SFBI and related student activities, both at the undergraduate and graduate level, as well as strengthening many of the SFBI outreach programs, according to a Cornell news release.

Kelly joined the Cornell community in 2006 when she returned to the Central New York area after several years living and working in Manhattan. Her time at Cornell includes both contract and endowed positions, an invited rotation with organizational development, two years of service with Cornell CARES, and three years chairing the CALS Core Values Awards Committee. She has been with the Johnson Graduate School of Management since 2016, where she most recently served as academic manager of the Executive MBA Metro NY program.

Prior to entering into higher education, Kelly worked for a series of family-owned businesses ranging from small and local to large and global, the release stated.

Kelly received her bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and a master’s from Elmira College.

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Photo credit: Cornell