Kelly Williamson Polanco is the Founder and Chief People Strategist of Kele Nu, an advisory firm helping organizations navigate forward through people-centered transformation. She brings more than 20 years of progressive People and Culture Leadership across global companies with deep knowledge of AI Transition Strategy, Change Management, Culture Growth, and Talent Development.

Kelly has built and scaled the HR function from startup. As Vice President, Head of People and Culture at Aktis Oncology, she doubled the organization in size while achieving a 95% Great Place to Work score and driving voluntary turnover to 2%. In earlier roles at CRISPR Therapeutics, Editas Medicine, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Kelly built talent development and organizational design programs for high-growth companies, and during 15 years at Bristol Myers Squibb she led HR strategies in the United States, Latin America, and EMEA, including a technology transformation spanning multiple continents.

At Kele Nu, Kelly advises leaders on AI transition strategy, People and Culture leadership, and Culture Growth. She holds a Master of Science in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in International Business from Thunderbird at Arizona State University, along with certifications in AI People Strategy, Change Leadership, Compensation, and DE&I. Kelly brings a future-ready lens to every engagement and delivers pragmatic, people-centered solutions with global insight and local impact.