Meet Paul Kelly

October 31, 2019

When Paul Kel­ly was named prin­ci­pal of Elk Grove High School (EGHS) in 2013, he was eager to make an impact in the lives of his stu­dents. As he set­tled in to his new role and got to know his stu­dent pop­u­la­tion, he rec­og­nized that many stu­dents faced chal­lenges that required spe­cial­ized atten­tion. More than that, he iden­ti­fied that some stu­dents expe­ri­enced stress that stemmed from chal­lenges their fam­i­ly mem­bers faced, and he want­ed to do some­thing to help. As he began research­ing local social ser­vice agen­cies that offered wrap­around ser­vices that could sup­port a fam­i­ly as a whole, one name kept com­ing up: Ken­neth Young Center.

Paul con­nect­ed with KYC’s team to learn about the diver­si­ty of ser­vices offered and quick­ly real­ized that he was in the right place. He joined the 5K Run/​Walk Com­mit­tee to help raise mon­ey and aware­ness for men­tal health and senior ser­vices as a way to devel­op a deep­er under­stand­ing of the agency. With­in a year, Paul joined the Board of Direc­tors. By 2016, he took on a lead­er­ship posi­tion and served as Chair­man of the Board for two years. Paul remains as an active mem­ber of the Board who strives to best serve our communities.

KYC and EGHS part­ner togeth­er to offer a vari­ety of sup­port­ive and edu­ca­tion­al ser­vices direct­ly to EGHS stu­dents. In his role as Prin­ci­pal, Paul works close­ly with KYC’s pos­i­tive youth pro­grams. These pro­grams cre­ate safe spaces for youth to learn about alco­hol, drug, and preg­nan­cy pre­ven­tion. KYC also helps to facil­i­tate EGHS’s Youth Advi­so­ry Coun­cil (YAC), which engages stu­dents in pro­grams and activ­i­ties that work toward the com­mon goal of stay­ing drug and alco­hol free. EGHS and KYC’s social work­ers and staff col­lab­o­rate to pro­vide exten­sive sup­port to youth and fam­i­lies, offer­ing a vari­ety of ser­vices to meet each student’s indi­vid­ual needs. Paul’s unique rela­tion­ship to both KYC and EGHS dri­ves pos­i­tive out­comes for stu­dents and families.

When asked, Grace Hong Duf­fin, Pres­i­dent and CEO of KYC had this to say about Paul: ​“Paul’s lead­er­ship and insight have been an invalu­able part of KYC’s ser­vice to youth. Whether work­ing with our teams to find cre­ative ways to engage youth in pos­i­tive pro­gram­ming to strate­gic meet­ings about the long-term plans for KYC, Paul brings a wis­dom and joy­ful spir­it to every­thing he does. We’re proud to have him on our Board.”

Thank you, Paul, for the many ways you sup­port our community!

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