We’re thrilled to announce that Kelsey Russell, an executive with a passion for aligning capital with community, has joined Brighter Investing as our Chief Operating Officer.
In this new role, Kelsey will help us scale our ability to guide clients who connect their investments with their values and financial goals. As COO, she’ll be focused on
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- Leading operations and building scalable processes to support our growth, helping us expand our services and capacity to guide clients including individual investors, families, nonprofits and foundations
- Supporting the development of our private investments, creating more opportunities for impact-driven wealth-building
- Spearheading a new Social Justice Strategy designed to broaden access to values-aligned capital.
Kelsey built a strong foundation in strategy and execution during her 13 years in corporate leadership at The Coca-Cola Company. Like Brighter’s founders Gary Whitehurst and Nancy Sagar, Kelsey made a purposeful career pivot into the impact space. She’s spent the past few years working in the nonprofit sector at the frontlines of economic vulnerability and social justice. For example, she has brought a wealth of operational expertise to Atlanta nonprofit Remerge, where she works directly on the issues of poverty and social exclusion, helping vulnerable neighbors create stability and begin to thrive.
“Kelsey brings an impressive skill set to Brighter, one that’s perfect for us at this stage of our growth,” said CEO Gary Whitehurst. “Equally important, she has abundant passion to make a positive difference in the world. That combination makes her a wonderful fit for our team.”
“Your money has power – the power to grow, securing your future and the financial goals you set for yourself,” Kelsey explained. “And it has the power to shape the world around you through the businesses it funds, the industries it supports, and the impact it creates.
“With Brighter, I’m focused on how we help more people take control of their financial futures without compromising their values,” she added.
Kelsey earned a BS in engineering from Baylor University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
