Kelly Beck-Sordi
Kelly provides leadership and management for Cardinal Commitment, that part of the Stanford's Cardinal Service initiative which encourages and supports students in long-term service commitments and projects. Kelly has been engaged in public service in higher education since 2003 when she joined the Haas Center’s staff as the director of the Center’s science education outreach program. In the intervening years she has been a member of the service-learning team and directed Education Partnerships, the Center’s mentoring and tutoring division. She now oversees programs ranging from public service leadership training, public service career development to education mentoring and tutoring programs. Kelly also facilitates the Center's professional development programming for staff.
Prior to her work at the Haas Center for Public Service, Kelly was Academic Program Officer for Science Education in Stanford’s Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. She assisted faculty in the development of science learning opportunities within the general education requirements. Her interests and professional experiences have evolved over the span of her career from physics education to informal science education, civic education for science students, educational equity, education program management, and most recently to leadership.
Kelly has a personal history of civic engagement, having led a team of volunteers as a volunteer herself for 10+ years in providing interactive science activities for the public at San Francisco’s Exploratorium Museum of Science, Art and Perception. She earned a BA from Vassar College in astronomy and physics, and an MS at the University of Wyoming in physics and education.
In her free time, Kelly enjoys rock climbing, hiking, skateboarding, bicycling and getting into nature whenever possible. She is an amateur cook, cooking at Hell's Backbone Grill in Boulder, Utah monthly, and devoted baseball fan. She says, "My favorite free time activity is a good meal and good conversation shared with family and friends, many of whom are my Haas Center colleagues."