ERIC M. KELLY

PRESIDENT, QUANTUM FOUNDATION, WEST PALM BEACH

Kelly has been at the Quantum Foundation for 15 years, 12 as president. The foundation is a private grant-making organization formed in 1995 with the net proceeds from the sale of the JFK Medical Center in Atlantis. The foundation is currently endowed with a $175-million corpus, and over the past three decades has distributed $170 million in grants to nonprofits that work in Palm Beach County. The organization recently partnered with Stephen Ross and the Related Ross team to create Related Together, a private foundation supporting community impact in West Palm Beach.

EDUCATION: Florida State University (BS), Florida Atlantic University (MA), University of Southern California (Ph.D.), Moody Theological Seminary (MA in Ministry Studies)

FIRST JOB: My first job was an after-school job doing basic janitorial services at Rips One Hour Cleaners in my hometown of Palatka.

DREAM ALTERNATE CAREER: I would be a university professor.

MENTEE IMPACT: I met this mentee when he was a senior in high school. He experienced homelessness for a short while, but through partnerships with local nonprofit providers we were able to provide secure housing for him. He went on to graduate from college and is now pursuing a career in medicine.

SOMETHING SURPRISING: Most people don’t know that I am a trained baritone singer and was offered a seat at Stetson University’s School of Music after graduating high school.