Nina M. Kelly, PhD, is multitalented and incredibly accomplished with decades of varied experiences. As a prolific author, she wrote “Athena, Tudor, and the Eagle” in 2023 and “Athena the Brave” in 2022. Her catalog of work also includes numerous titles, such as “Honeybee Treehouse” in 2021 and “Grace Has a Silent Voice” in 2015. To date, all three of her children’s books have won the coveted Mother’s Choice Awards and are bestsellers.
Moreover, Dr. Kelly co-authored “Success Breakthroughs” in 2021, “Success Mastery” in 2021, “Leo Learns About Life” in 2019, and “The Big Question” in 2018. She was the executive producer of “Larry King: A Life Celebrated” and the documentary “A New Leash on Life: The K9s for Warriors Story,” which won four Emmy Awards. Additionally, she was the publisher and contributor for the book “Saving Wednesday’s Child” in 2008, and contributor to the documentary “Freedom Is Not Free Folds of Honor” and the short film “Dandelion,” the latter of which earned a Judge’s Award in 2015.
With a string of Amazon Best Sellers to her credit, Dr. Kelly has received numerous accolades, including a Top Lifetime Achievement Award from Carrington Publishers in 2020, the same year she also was listed in America’s Most Influential Women. In 2019, she was commended “For Commitment to Spreading Knowledge and Art Through Films” by DNA Films. Carrington Publishers recognized Dr. Kelly with a Diamond Award in 2019, before which she won The Quilly Award three times in 2018 for “Why Music Matters,” “Breakthrough to Success,” and “Success Mastery.” Further, she has been included in the National Academy of Best-Selling Authors and received an Outstanding Achievement Award from the National Association of Professional Women. In 2001, Dr. Kelly received an Atticus Award from the Southern Repertory Theatre.
Having wide-ranging interests and connections, Dr. Kelly, a Kappa Delta Pi inductee, has worked with or served on various boards through her membership in key organizations for many years. She has served as the president and chief executive officer of the New Orleans Opera. Dr. Kelly also was president and chief executive officer of the Children’s Bureau of New Orleans. Drawing inspiration from her mother and her great aunt, the latter of whom was one of the founders of The Arc, Dr. Kelly volunteered for the Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice and received a Most Outstanding Dedication of Volunteering Award she holds dear to her heart. Citing more affiliations, she has served the New Orleans Film Society, the American Academy of Religion, the Friends of Music Society, the Jung Society of New Orleans, the Metropolitan Opera Association, the National Association of Professional Women, the National Society of Clinical Hypnotherapists, and the New Orleans Ballet Association. Impressively, Dr. Kelly is a former fellow of the New Orleans Museum of Art and a former member of the Scholars of Biblical Literature. Relevant to her work as an author, she is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Women’s Christian Writers Association.
Throughout her career, Dr. Kelly has remained active in the arts as a way of giving back to society. In addition to her previously-referenced connections, she served as the board president for the Shreveport School of Fine Arts from 2011 to 2013 and was the vice president of the Shreveport Opera Association from 2009 to 2010. Notably, Dr. Kelly was a visiting chair of the Loyola University Music Department and was a MasterSigners chair with the New Orleans Opera Association. For her selfless efforts, she has been recognized with the Marquis Who’s Who Humanitarian Award. Dr. Kelly believes that women have a natural sense of what their passions are and believes they should not hesitate to pursue them.
Early in her professional life, Dr. Kelly worked in the medical field in organ donation and transplantation. She ended her professional career with Louisiana State University School of Medicine by being awarded a clinical instructor position with the Department of Surgery as a result of her research and dissertation. Throughout her experience in medicine, Dr. Kelly has garnered experience as an organ procurement coordinator, a private duty nurse, a pharmaceutical sales representative, and a staff nurse. Her journey began in 1968, working as a revenue officer for the Louisiana Department of Revenue. Across her achievements in health care and as a writer, Dr. Kelly considers her dissertation, titled “Myth Making and Modern Medicine: A Case of Kidney Transplantation,” to be one of her most significant achievements. She plans to write a book on the topic.