Arnold Ventures

Kelli Rhee is president and CEO of Arnold Ventures, which she joined in 2013 as director of venture development before becoming chief strategy officer in 2016 and CEO in 2017. She led the organization's restructuring from a foundation into a limited liability company and its deployment of funds across health care, education, infrastructure, public finance, and criminal justice. Her earlier career spanned management consulting, health care, and venture capital, and she holds an MBA and a master's in education from Stanford and a bachelor's in economics from Northwestern.

Attorney and former oil company executive who co-founded the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and actively engages in the organization's direction and execution.

Chris Chen oversees mission-aligned investments at Arnold Ventures, using tools such as equity, debt, and guarantees to support the organization's core issue areas. He previously was a partner at the Gates Foundation's Strategic Investment Fund, where he focused on early-stage biotechnology investments, and earlier served as a vice president on Bain Capital's private equity team investing in health care and industrial services. He holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a bachelor's degree in Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale University.

DJ Carella is Executive Vice President of Communications at Arnold Ventures, where he leads the organization's communications strategy across research, policy priorities, and grantee work. He was previously a partner and Global Director of Corporate Communications at McKinsey & Company, and earlier a managing director at a Washington, DC-based strategic communications and public affairs firm. He holds a degree in English from Davidson College.

Beth Banks is a certified public accountant with a background in budgeting, general accounting, and internal auditing in the private sector. Before Arnold Ventures, she worked as a financial analyst at an energy company handling financial management matters at a national scope, and earlier as a manager at Ernst & Young, where she led internal audits and control reviews at Fortune 500 companies. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees in accounting from Louisiana State University.

Holly Harris leads federal and state legislative campaigns across Arnold Ventures' portfolios. She previously served as President of the Network and led the Justice Action Network, where she worked on criminal justice reform efforts including the First Step Act and the Fair Chance Act. She began her career as a television news reporter in Lexington, KY, earned a law degree from the University of Kentucky, and has held legal and political roles including General Counsel for the Republican Party of Kentucky.

Jennifer Nelsen is Executive Vice President of Partnerships & People at Arnold Ventures, where she leads the organization's partnership-building efforts and its internal people strategy across three offices, overseeing recruiting, onboarding, learning and development, performance management, and internal communications. She previously served as chief of staff to the organization's president and CEO and as assistant general counsel at the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, and earlier practiced litigation at Winston & Strawn and Weil, Gotshal & Manges. She began her career as a judicial law clerk for U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon and holds degrees from Washington and Lee University and New York Law School.

Justin Milner leads a cross-cutting portfolio at Arnold Ventures centered on evidence-based policy and evaluation, overseeing research investments aimed at scaling effective social interventions and embedding evidence into policymaking. He has over 20 years of experience across the non-profit, philanthropic, and public sectors, including roles as vice president of the Research to Action Lab at the Urban Institute, and positions at the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He began his career as a teacher through Teach For America, and holds a master's in public administration from Princeton University and a bachelor's from Yale University.

Kirby Smith is Chief Strategy Officer at Arnold Ventures, which she joined in 2016, working across policy, advocacy, and operations to align strategy across the organization's programmatic areas. She has helped build the higher education team, worked on affordable housing that led to the creation of a mission-aligned investment team, and directs the incubation of new initiatives on issues such as sports betting and contraceptive access. Earlier she was a management consultant at Bain & Company focused on health care and financial services, and she holds MBA and MPP degrees from the University of Michigan and a bachelor's degree from Yale University.

Mark E. Miller leads the Arnold Ventures Health Care team, focusing on lowering costs and improving the value of care. He has over 30 years in health policy, having previously served as executive director of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), assistant director of Health and Human Resources at the Congressional Budget Office, deputy director of health plans at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, health financing branch chief at the Office of Management and Budget, and senior research associate at the Urban Institute. He holds a doctorate in public policy analysis from the State University of New York at Binghamton and master's and bachelor's degrees in political science from Old Dominion University.

Roxanne Almaraz serves as chief operating officer, general counsel, and corporate secretary of Arnold Ventures, overseeing its Legal, Grants, IT, Operational Planning and Data Strategy, and Administrative functions. She was previously a partner at a global AmLaw 30 law firm, advising strategic and financial investors on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and other business transactions, and earlier clerked for U.S. District Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn. She holds a law degree from Stanford Law School and bachelor's degrees in corporate communication and journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.

Hunter Kellett is Vice President of Health Care, Medicaid and State Policy Engagement at Arnold Ventures. With over 15 years of experience in health policy at state and federal levels, Kellett focuses on systemic issues related to health care costs.