Kelly Shannon McNeill
In Los Angeles, where a changing climate, aging infrastructure, and a legacy of environmental injustice converge, the future of water is the future of the region. For more than 15 years, Kelly Shannon McNeill has worked to connect communities, capital, and institutions to drive creative, inclusive, and scalable solutions to our most pressing global challenges.
As Managing Director of LA Waterkeeper, she’s proud to lead one of Los Angeles' most impactful environmental organizations, alongside Executive Director, Bruce Reznik. Her approach centers on the belief that lasting environmental progress requires more than good science and policy — it requires aligning people, resources, and institutions around a shared vision for LA’s future. That belief has shaped a career defined by cross-sector collaboration and creative capital strategies, building trust with stakeholders who don't always share the same goals and perspectives.
Before joining LA Waterkeeper, Kelly helped launch the Public Space Network in Kenya — a multi-stakeholder urban resilience initiative that won a Le Monde Smart Cities Award for global civic engagement in 2018. She has advised Fortune 100 companies and high-profile philanthropists on impact strategy, built collaborative platforms in partnership with UN Habitat, and helped social entrepreneurs scale their work. She began her career with the Renewable Energy Foundation in London, before moving into international capital markets, where she discovered her passion for aligning shareholder interests with meaningful social impact.
Kelly was a fellow of the Moving Worlds Institute in 2017, where she applied Human Centered Design in global development contexts across East Africa — an experience that continues to inform her commitment to community-centered systems change. She holds a BA in International Relations – Economic Development from UC San Diego.
Outside of work, you can find Kelly raising the next generation of earth lovers, and staying deeply invested in the resilient future she's working to build.
