Kelley Jones brings more than 25 years of experience and a wealth of knowledge in key areas of NDI programming including elections and political parties, governance, civic participation, and women's leadership. For more than 15 years, she has served as a resident director or chief of party managing offices and programs in Nigeria, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, Kuwait, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Sudan, and Zambia. She has also served as a senior advisor and consultant for various initiatives including political party assessments, a regional women’s campaign school, a party poll watcher program, a parliamentary governance project, and a voter registration monitoring project.

Jones first joined NDI as the resident director for Nigeria in 1999. She managed a legislative strengthening program and oversaw training activities for Nigerian legislators and staff on topics such as ethics regulation, committee systems, budget process, and intergovernmental relations. She also assisted with the establishment and organization of the Women’s Political Caucus. Following this assignment in Nigeria, Jones went on to lead NDI programs in several countries in the Southern and East Africa, Middle East and North Africa, and Asia regions.

In 2011, Jones served as chief of party for Counterpart International in several countries and as a country director for the International Development and Law Organization (IDLO) in Afghanistan. Most recently, Jones served as chief of party for Counterpart International in Bangladesh, managing a USAID- and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)-funded civil society strengthening project. Her work focused on building the advocacy capacity of local organizations by targeting local-level thematic issues. 

Jones holds a Bachelor's degree in psychology and a Master’s of Science degree in social work from the University of Texas at Austin, in her home state of Texas.