Candace Kelly

Candace Kelly is a member of the FinTech Advisory Council at the Milken Institute. She is also the chief legal and policy officer of the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), a nonprofit organization that works with and supports changemakers in creating equitable access to the global financial system through blockchain technology. She leads SDF’s legal team and policy teams, which work to connect the public and private sectors and engage global regulators.

Before joining SDF, Kelly worked at Uber Technologies Inc., where she held a variety of positions, helping the company navigate regulatory investigations and advising on safety, security, privacy, consumer protection, and law enforcement matters.

Kelly brings extensive legal experience to SDF, most notably her 17-year career at the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), where she held positions as a legal and policy advisor on national security, criminal, and civil rights issues in leadership offices in Washington, DC, and as a prosecutor in the Northern District of California. During her time with the DOJ, she also served as special counsel for national security to the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  

She holds a bachelor of arts in East Asian studies from Williams College and a juris doctor from the University of California (UC), Hastings College of the Law.

Kelly is a member of the Janet Reno Endowment Advisory Committee at the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University, McCourt School of Public Policy, and serves on the advisory board of the UC Hastings Center for Business Law.