Chari Leader Kelley's career is focused upon improving access to and opportunities for success in post-secondary education for historically under-served and adult students. From her dissertation research focusing on adult learner perceptions of academic quality pre- and post-matriculation to her work as a lead consultant at the Institute for Higher Education Policy in the transfer, articulation, and access sector; Dr. Leader Kelley is a passionate advocate for creating degree pathways.

She has served for over a decade in senior leadership positions at assessment-based Excelsior College and at Bellevue University (NE). She has consulted on issues of student mobility, transfer and articulation policy, prior learning assessment and enrollment management. Her work has been at the institutional, state, and national levels.

As a Vice President at the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), Dr. Leader Kelley led and advanced its national online prior learning assessment service, LearningCounts.org, to assure its success. Currently a Senior Fellow, Dr. Leader Kelley continues to support CAEL grant work in competencies and state adoption of strategies in support of adult learners and degree completion.