Kelly Blankenship serves as a Program Manager for the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance, a 25+ year partnership between Meharry Medical College and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. At MVA, she manages the Interprofessional Education program and coordinates the Meharry-Vanderbilt Student Alliance, two long-standing programs that facilitate interinstitutional and interdisciplinary collaboration and partnership between students at both institutions.

Her experience includes over 10 years of administrative and programmatic nonprofit leadership in both the education and health sectors. She is a member of Tennessee Women in Green (TWIG), and first joined the UGL board as an intern for Nashville's Young Leaders Council program in 2024.

Kelly holds a Master of Professional Studies in Organizational Leadership from Lipscomb University and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Disorders/ Sign Language Interpreting from the University of South Florida.

She lives in Old Hickory Village with her husband, Aaron, and their two rescue cats, Toad & Violet. She has been a proud Nashville resident since 2014.