In 2021, Kate Kelly was appointed as Executive Director of the newly-established Office of Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention within the Washington Department of Commerce. Her responsibilities include oversight of a number of community safety grant programs, including firearm violence prevention and intervention efforts, and Washington’s federal Byrne-JAG and Byrne SCIP funding.

Kelly, who is an attorney, joined the Dept. of Commerce after serving as Policy Director for the Washington Attorney General’s office. Her career also includes working as a Director with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama Administration and three terms in the Idaho Senate where she was Minority Leader and served on the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Idaho Governor’s Criminal Justice Commission.