Rachel Kelly

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Senior Resource and Research Development Specialist
Center for Regional Food Systems

Rachel has been with the Center for Regional Food Systems since 2016. She was promoted to Senior Academic Specialist in 2024 given her outreach impact and contributions to the university’s community of scholarship. Rachel co-leads the Michigan Local Food Council Network and has provided support for the network since 2016. She also supports the Michigan Good Food Initiative, was chair of the 2018 Michigan Good Food Summit planning committee, and helped update the 2020 Michigan Good Food Charter.

Rachel has been leading the update of An Annotated Bibliography on Structural Racism Present in the U.S. Food System since 2020, after co-leading the project since 2017. Now in its eleventh edition, she is coordinating two upcoming synthesis papers that will provide additional context and insight into this crucial publication. Rachel also was leading the development of the Salesforce-based data collection platform for the Great Lakes Midwest Regional Food Business Center before the project was terminated by the USDA in July 2025. She has a M.S. in Community Sustainability from Michigan State University.