Connections: Heartland Forward appoints Brian Kelsey as vice president

Heartland Forward, a Bentonville-based think-and-do tank, recently hired Brian Kelsey as its new vice president of programs and strategy. Kelsey, who will move to Bentonville for the role, has experience in advocacy, policy and economic development.

In his new role, Kelsey will lead Heartland Forward’s community-driven programs across 20 states in the central United States, including Arkansas. The program areas include regional competitiveness, talent pipeline, and health and wellness.

Before joining Heartland Forward, Kelsey was consulting manager of economic development at Ernst & Young. He previously was assistant city manager of economic development for the city of Edinburg, Texas; chief strategy officer for the mayor’s office of Nashville, Tenn., and Davidson County, Tenn.; and principal of Civic Analytics LLC in Austin, Texas.

Kelsey earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in public administration from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

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