Executive Director The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation
Director of Industry Relations The Jockey Club
Shannon Kelly became executive director of The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation, a charitable trust that assists humans in need in the Thoroughbred industry in North America, in November 2019. She had served as development manager of The Jockey Club Safety Net Foundation and Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation since December 2013. In June 2024, she was additionally named Director of Industry Relations for The Jockey Club.
Kelly has strong family ties to the horse racing industry. Her grandfather, Thomas J. Kelly, was a Thoroughbred horse trainer who was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1993. Her father, Timothy D. Kelly, was a horse trainer, served as the New York Racing Associations clerk of scales, and now serves as its safety steward. Kelly grew up visiting the racetrack with her grandfather and father and experienced how the business works firsthand.
Prior to joining The Jockey Club, Kelly worked in the customer service department for the New York Racing Association during the summer racing meet at Saratoga Race Course. She also spent a year working in the travel and luxury lifestyle public relations industry in New York City and served as an account coordinator for Nancy J. Friedman Public Relations.
Kelly serves as the co-chair of the Horse Racing Women’s Association’s Community Initiatives Committee and on the Advisory Board of Belmont Child Care Association.
