Position Title
Local Government Relations Director
Government and Community Relations, Office of the Chancellor
Kelly Fong Rivas serves as the Local Government Relations Director with a primary focus on Yolo County.
Prior to UC Davis, Kelly worked for nearly eight years at the local level for the City of Sacramento in the Office of Mayor Darrell Steinberg, and previously worked at the federal level and as a political consultant. As a consultant, Kelly worked on Congressional races, issue advocacy campaigns, and to create pathways to college for first time Latino/a students. At the federal level, she served as the Field Director and Deputy Press Secretary for Congressman Ami Bera, M.D. before managing Darrell Steinberg's 2016 mayoral campaign and transition into office.
Most of her time in the Mayor's office she served as the Chief of Staff until creating and stepping into the inaugural Racial Equity Advisor position to the Mayor in 2022. During her tenure with the Mayor her portfolio focused on public safety, racial equity, and crisis management. She loves helping people achieve their goals, connecting people and resources, and solving complex problems.
Outside of work, she enjoys casual bike rides and the agricultural bounty the region offers, just not the seasonal allergies that come with the territory. She is a proud alumni of UC Santa Cruz, a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum Mountain Valley Chapter, and a founding member of the Global Shapers Sacramento Hub, a worldwide community of young leaders selected to represent their cities within the World Economic Forum.
She has been recognized for multiple awards including the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce’s ‘Emerging Leader of the Year’ (2019), the Sacramento Business Journal’s annual ‘40 under 40’ (2015), and has been featured in Comstock’s Magazine and Sacramento Magazine.