UNLV degree is great, but graduate's big achievement came in legislative win

Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.

When Fallon resident Kelli Kelly walks across the stage at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center tonight to receive her master’s degree in urban leadership, she’ll do so knowing her work created real change.

She’s being recognized as one of six outstanding graduates from this year’s class, finishing with a near-perfect grade-point average and an impressive roster of professional achievements.

Her crowning moment came last year when the Nevada Legislature passed Assembly Bill 352 — landmark legislation expanding cottage food sales regulations and establishing one of the first statewide frameworks for cottage cosmetics businesses in the country.

The bill was Kelly’s passion project, and she’s quick to credit UNLV’s support as a driving force behind its passage.

Kelly previously worked in various kitchen roles on ships in San Diego, but moved to Fallon with her husband in when he accepted a job to teach at the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instruction program — or, TOPGUN — at the Naval Air Station.

With few boats and yachts to cook for, Kelly secured a job at a local farm-to-table restaurant, The Slanted Porch, where she got experience growing her own food and working with nearby farmers on sourcing fresh produce.

“There’s just something so powerful about taking care of an ingredient from the time that the seed goes into the ground all the way through to when you’re seeing the expression of the people who are eating it,” Kelly said, cementing in her mind the importance of local and regional food systems.

After seven years at the restaurant, Kelly branched out to run her own personal chef and catering service with a goal to only source ingredients grown within a 100-mile radius of Fallon.

She did that for almost two years, then moved to work with the Fallon Food Hub, a nonprofit that collected, stored and distributed local produce on behalf of Churchill County and farmers in west-central Nevada.

She became executive director of the organization, securing $1.25 million in funding to prevent farm closures; increasing business connections between farmers and consumers; and distributing 105,000 pounds of food to 3,500 households, including tribal communities.

Food security and stability became top of mind for Kelly, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic when areas that were reliant on the industrial food system faced challenges with availability.

Nevada is a food insecure state, importing between 95% and 99% of food consumed here through two main routes in the north and south. That’s despite around 3,000 farms operating in the state, including both crops and livestock, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

As Kelly began meeting more with leaders to advocate for strengthening local food systems, she wanted to better equip herself with the tools to discuss public policy. She searched for various food systems programs but found many of them were out of state or required in-person attendance.

Her friend Layke Martin, an attorney and part-time faculty member at UNLV, recommended the Urban Leadership master’s program, and Kelly was sold. Kelly took all of her classes online while staff helped her tailor the program to match her focus on food systems and public policy, she said.

Those skills Kelly learned in the classroom quickly were put to work last spring. Through her current role at the Nevada Small Business Development Center, Kelly helps provide no-cost, confidential technical assistance and coaching to small-business owners around the state, but she was watching client after client run into barriers that prevented their businesses from taking off.

That motivated her to approach Assemblymember Natha Anderson, D-Washoe, to work on revising existing regulations on cottage foods, which includes everything from homemade nuts and jam mixes to certain baked goods that make less than $100,000 per year in gross sales.

Provisions were added for other cottage areas, like homemade cosmetics and craft foods, and the legislation began a three-month journey to its unanimous passage — in the state Senate and Assembly. Gov. Joe Lombardo signed the bill into law June 9, 2025.

It will be completely implemented by July 1, 2027.

“Young entrepreneurs seeking to open a small business, parents spending time at home with children, or elderly individuals desiring to stay at home can all gain from these laws to support themselves and their families, all while expanding local food options in their communities,” Anderson said at an Assembly Committee on Health and Human Services meeting March 17, 2025. “It is time for us to update it to encourage the economic growth of Nevada’s small and home-based businesses.”

Trying to get legislation passed while working full time and completing a degree is no easy feat.

Kelly also got to work with the Southern Nevada Food Council for seven months to create a list of six recommendations for local municipalities to guide policy relating to food systems and security.

That implementation toolkit will one day help city and county governments in building stronger local food systems and streamline a process that can sometimes take years to complete, she explained.

One of the most important things Kelly learned in her classes was how to empathize with different people who could be affected by policy decisions, which she said was instrumental in working with the Southern Nevada Food Council to develop their Southern Nevada Food Policy Toolkit.

Their focus was the municipal employees, who might suddenly get their packet dropped into their lap and asked to research food systems, she said.

The urban leadership program was such an amazing experience for Kelly that she’s returning this fall — this time, in person — to get her doctoral degree in public policy.

But right now, she’s still working with the Small Business Development Center, the Nevada Farm Bureau Federation and two cooperative marketing programs to conduct six listening sessions for people interested in AB 352.

The last one finished recently, and the team will be taking the compiled input to the Nevada Department of Agriculture soon to help inform the process while they figure out how to implement the program.

“I think this is an example of how the work that students do at UNLV has the potential, has the space to actually make a real world difference, and I think that that’s something that we should all be really proud of,” Kelly said. “I know that I’m very proud of the work that I did, both while in the program, as well as working at the Legislature.”

Kelly is one of over 3,700 students to receive a degree from UNLV — an 8% increase from the 3,454 who graduated last May, according to the university.

Graduates range in age from 18 to 77 years old, with almost 47% of them being first-generation degree holders. They come from 62 different countries.

“UNLV exists to help students succeed and move knowledge forward. Commencement is the culmination of that mission — showcasing what our graduates have achieved and their tremendous potential,” UNLV interim President Chris Heavey said in a statement to the Sun. “I’m especially proud of the unique stories of academic and research strength, leadership and tenacity displayed by our outstanding graduates and the entire UNLV Class of 2026.”