Since her training at Michigan State University, her research has maintained a focus on social inequalities, work, and family, with a more recent focus on food insecurity. Dr. Kelly has served as chair of the Poverty, Class, and Inequalities Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems and as chair of the Southern Sociological Society's committee on Sociological Practice. Dr. Kelly has also served as a fellow and research affiliate of the Rural Policy Research Institute's Rural Poverty Center, which supported her research on rural low-income mothers' efforts to attain and maintain paid employment.