Born at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, I am the father of two adult children — Katherine and Nicholas. In 2020, Alexandra Golaszewska Kelly and I married.

I attended William Penn Charter School in East Falls for high school, and Harvard University, where I majored in economics and government.

After college, I built a career in finance: as a commercial and investment banker, in municipal finance, and as CFO and consultant to alternative energy and materials companies and local manufacturers.

The most satisfying work I have done includes: 

• The successful turnaround of a clothing manufacturer in North Philadelphia, quadrupling the workforce.
• A consulting role with a manufacturer in Northeast Philadelphia, where I worked with the Teamsters to implement production floor changes. We delivered the first profitable quarter the company had seen in 4 years, and prevented the expected job losses.
• Combining my knowledge of municipal finance and alternative energy, underwrote a pool of solar installations on public school buildings and public universities.
• Structured a complex financing of a tri-generation, public-private partnership on a major public university campus, resulting in significant financial and energy savings and the reduction of particulate and other emissions.
• CFO of a West Philadelphia-based startup that is advancing a new medical device — first developed by doctors at CHoP — toward FDA approval and commercialization. 

I have been around politics all my life: as a committeeperson in the 9th ward for 25 years, through my clients as a municipal finance professional for 20 years, and through my family. My grandfather was the Democratic Chairman in Philadelphia and mayoral candidate in 1935, and my father served on City Council from 1968 to 1976.

I look forward to applying all of my collective experience to help build a better Philadelphia, so we can all enjoy safer, happier, and more fulfilling lives.