Kelly McCarthy

Global Impact Analyst, World Resources Institute

Kelly McCarthy is the Global Impact Analyst for the New Ventures Project in the Markets and Enterprise Program.

Kelly's expertise lies in identifying sustainable, innovative, and high-impact business opportunities. Her current work focuses on developing impact metrics that demonstrate the link between poverty alleviation and environmental enterprise. She has diverse experience with several different sectors and from a variety of enterprise perspectives including design-for-impact, consultancy, non-profit, think-tank, corporate, and as a social entrepreneur.

Kelly moved to the DC area from her home state of Wisconsin where she co-founded an organic living retail store called Good Harvest Market. This green enterprise provides the local community with access to "sustainable home" items, holistic health products, organic food, an organic café, and hosts sustainable lifestyle classes while ensuring that all the products are sourced from other SMEs.

Prior to her entrepreneurial endeavors, she worked for a mid-sized electric company to help design environmental impact metrics for the utility sector and embark on their first sustainability strategy. Most recently, Kelly worked with the consultancy, SustainAbility, Inc., where she focused on accountability within Fortune 500 companies. Specifically, she explored the ways society can hold companies accountable for (and help them maximize) value creation in their environment and, conversely, how companies can help drive mainstream adoption of sustainable behaviors. Her experience includes work with the chemical, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and apparel sectors.