Kelli Britten, PhD is the Director of Marketing for Corporate Partnerships at the Arbor Day Foundation in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she leads marketing strategy across lead generation, sales enablement and partner communications. In this role, she works closely with major corporate partners—including Subaru, Enterprise Mobility, Edward Jones, and Clayton Homes—to build campaigns that connect brand sustainability goals with the Foundation's mission of inspiring people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees. Her work spans everything from national partnership marketing programs to supporting stakeholders from pitch to renewal, giving her a broad view of how nonprofit organizations and Fortune 500 companies collaborate through environmental and sustainability work.

Britten has a rich history of involvement in academia and the nonprofit sector. She previously served as the Chief Communications Officer for the City of Lincoln and is a former Assistant Professor of Practice in advertising and public relations at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. During her tenure, she developed and taught courses such as Keeping Up with the Kardashian Brand, The Influencer Economy, All Too Well Marketed: Taylor Swift’s Marketing Genius and the permanent course Event Planning for Branded Activations + Experiences. She is known for grounding coursework in practical, industry-relevant frameworks, drawing on case studies from popular culture and contemporary brand strategy to help students understand communications concepts in action. Britten also lead the NYC Media Tour tripling attendance in her first year, and advised the UNL Ad Club and the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) team, leading them to record levels of membership and fundraising.

Britten is a proud first generation college student and holds a Ph.D. in human sciences with a specialization in leadership studies with her dissertation titled, ”Beyond Being Famous for Being Famous: A Phenomenological Approach to Understand the Leadership of Kim Kardashian.” She earned a master's degree in journalism and mass communications from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Peru State College.

Beyond her professional and academic work, Kelli is an entrepreneur and active community leader. She founded Bright Spots Paper, a stationery business, in 2018, and has been involved with the American Advertising Federation, including serving as the last President of AAF Lincoln and the Chairperson of AAF District 9. She lives in Lincoln with her husband and favorite topic of conversation—her pup Kevin. Britten has toured all 50 state capitol buildings, plus D.C., and is on her way to visit as many countries.