Kelso grew up in Washington Grove, Maryland, and graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, majoring in philosophy and minoring in mathematics. After graduation, she worked as a FoodCorps AmeriCorps member in Little Rock, Arkansas, where she led cooking and gardening classes for kids and collaborated with the local community to increase hands-on experiences with food. In 2016, Kelso shifted from direct service to a national role at FoodCorps, supporting strategic planning and program goals through financial data and analysis. She took the summer off to spend time with friends and family and road-trip across the country. At Princeton, she looks forward to learning more about economic analysis of policy and how to transform how wealth is distributed in our economy.