Kelly Barnhardt

About

Kelly is the owner of College Admissions Strategies. She has a certificate in college counseling with distinction from UCLA (Extension) and is a certified life coach (CPC) through the iPEC training institute with a designation as an Energy Leadership Index – Master Practitioner. She holds a Master's degree in nonprofit management from LSU and a Bachelor's degree in business management from SUNY Oswego. 

Kelly’s past work and leadership positions helped her achieve the following honors and awards: The Charlotte Ledger’s “40 Over 40” winner in 2024, Charlotte Business Journal (CBJ) “40 Under 40” honoree in 2015, Union County Weekly Top 100 Business People of 2016, CBJ Top 50 Mentor for National Bizwomen Mentoring Event 2016-2018 & 2022; Matthews-Mint Hill Weekly Top 50 Women Leaders 2017-2019, The Mecklenburg Times Top 50 Most Influential Women of Charlotte 2017, ATHENA Charlotte Leadership Honoree for Service 2018, Top 25 Female Leaders of Matthews 2018, Mecklenburg Times 2019 Icons and Phenoms Honoree of Charlotte; and Charlotte Media Group’s “Best of Weeklies” Best College Preparation Services 2023, 2022, 2021 & 2020.

She is a passionate advocate of community service and currently sits on the Boards of two nonprofit organizations: Turning Point and the Union County Education Foundation. Her past board positions include the Union County Chamber of Commerce and RedBrick Partnership. She has sat on the Human Services Council of Matthews, the Economic Development Advisory Boards of Matthews and Indian Trail, and the Quad Alliance of South Charlotte. She has also been involved in Rotary International.