Kelsey Zavelo is the Assistant Director at the Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. In this role, she manages and executes CASE’s field-leading portfolio of programming for MBA students, focusing on social entrepreneurship, impact investing, and corporate social impact. This portfolio includes the CASE and CASE i3 fellowships, the Rising Impact Leaders workshop series, scholarship programs, guest speaker events, and hands-on learning opportunities that prepare students to drive meaningful change in their fields and communities. As an experienced educator and higher education professional, Kelsey is deeply committed to student development through mentorship and advising, while also contributing thought leadership to the Center’s social impact programming.
A long-time resident of the Triangle, Kelsey earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from NC State and a PhD in History from Duke University. As a historian, she draws on insights from the past to inform her work in program development and student engagement. With a deep appreciation for the changemakers who have shaped history and passion for student growth, Kelsey is dedicated to preparing the next generation of socially responsible leaders.
Before joining CASE, Kelsey played a key role in experiential learning programs at Duke, serving as a long-time site coordinator and collaborator for DukeEngage. She is currently the faculty lead for Fuqua’s flagship Global Academic Travel Experience (GATE) South Africa course.