Elizabeth Barhydt
Coach, Counselor, Community Builder
In Part One of our profile, we followed Joe Kelly from a tight-knit Queens childhood to Wall Street and Tokyo, through a high-stakes career in global finance, and finally to Greenwich, where a non-compete agreement forced a hiatus from work revealing a deeper calling: community.
He coached kids to nine state championships, covered team costs anonymously, helped dig through the rubble after 9/11, volunteered for ten years as a firefighter, and helped shape one of the most collegial Boards of Education in recent town history— all while building businesses and mentoring the next generation.
But that’s only half the story.
A Candidate by Request, A Leader by Instinct
In 2019, as local political races were forming, Kelly was approached by the Republican Town Committee to run alongside Fred Camillo as Selectman. He agreed, but the ticket later shifted to Lauren Rabin to better reflect the political moment. Kelly stepped aside without hesitation and ran instead for the Board of Education. “Whatever you guys need,” he said. “I’ll just apply myself and have a ton of fun with it.”
The timing was critical. Trust in town governance, particularly the Board of Educaton, was fraying. Board meetings had grown tense and polarized. But Kelly brought an unusual blend of energy and stability. “People think they have to fight,” he said. “But if you bring everyone together, your productivity becomes exponentially greater.”
He used his skill set—developed on trading floors, refined in boardrooms— to foster collaboration, not control. “If you could somehow convince a group that, ‘I’m going to protect you,’ then they could go on offense,” he explained. “you can accomplish a lot.”
His approach had a real impact. Under his leadership (by a unanimous vote) the Board of Education became notably less partisan and more focused. “The beneficiaries of the time and effort were the kids,” he said. “That’s what made it worth it.”
Local Service, Global Reach
Kelly’s civic work has extended far beyond education. He served for a decade as a volunteer firefighter with the Amergerone Fire Company, showing up to middle-of-the-night calls with his signature calm. He has held leadership roles on the Central Middle School Building Committee, the Havemeyer Committee, and the RTM, where he is currently Chair of District 2. He’s a member of the local Roundtable and the Harpoon Club as well as the Greenwich Hibernian Association which puts on the St. Patrick’s Day parade. He co-founded the Coach Kelly Good News Game Plan podcast, which required all guests—including opposing Joe Kelly with his family. candidates—to keep things positive and constructive.
After leaving Wall Street, Joe Kelly turned his attention to struggling small businesses—gas stations, pizza shops, a window manufacturing company, even a vending machine operation. “I’d buy distressed companies, stabilize the management, and rebuild the structure,” he said. With a hands-on approach and a sharp eye for operational gaps, he helped turn around failing enterprises, not just for profit, but to protect the livelihoods of the people who worked there. “They’d say, ‘Joe, we’re all unemployable—please help us keep this going,’” he recalled with a laugh. For Kelly, the work was as personal as it was financial. “Fixing something that someone else depends on—that’s incredibly rewarding.”
Eventually the larger global field called him back. Today, Kelly runs a uranium brokerage platform he helped build from scratch after identifying a gap in the market—one that lacked transparency and accessibility. In a bold move in an industry that was stubbornly antiquated, Kelly took the stage on a whim at an international conference, explained his model and idea to make it work, and ended with: “If anyone wants to talk more, I’ll be in the lobby.” They did.
Kelly now runs a successful business that facilitates price discovery and liquidity for nuclear energy markets around the world.
Mentorship, Internships, and Second Chances
Kelly’s passion for mentorship is longstanding. For nearly two decades, he has hosted high school and college interns each summer, teaching them business fundamentals, ethics, and communication. Some of his interns have gone on to careers in nuclear energy—one at the Pentagon, another designing systems for submarines.
He and Jill also served as foster parents and legal guardians to children in need of stability. “It’s something we really valued,” he said. “Sometimes what a kid needs most is just a steady presence.”
Gloves Up: Boxing and Perspective
Of all the unexpected chapters in Kelly’s story, boxing may be the most surprising. A lifelong boxer, he fought twice at Madison Square Garden in the 1980s—one bout for the Golden Gloves and one that became a high-stakes, sold-out event in the Wall Street circuit.
He continued training over the years, but in 2018, he began preparing someone else for the ring: his wife, Jill. She entered a white-collar charity boxing match at Giovanni’s on the Water. “She said, ‘If anyone has it in them to fight, it’s me,’” he recalled. For three months, they sparred together. “I’d put on headgear, gloves, a mouthguard— she didn’t need any of that sparring me,” he laughed. “But she’d land a clean shot and just beam.”
Kelly had his own farewell match in 2021 at the Gloves Up Greenwich fundraiser. He won by judges’ decision— only to have it reversed minutes later. “It was perfect,” he said. “It made for a better story.”
A Shared Table, A Shared Mission
Throughout it all, Kelly and Jill have shared nearly every role. They’ve served together on the RTM and RTC, raised four children in Greenwich, and built a life grounded in mutual support. “We do it together,” he said. “Even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard.”
The Tenth Sentinel
The Greenwich Sentinel Award is given to those who lead by lifting others. Past honorees have stood up quietly, shown up reliably, and done the hard work without seeking recognition. Joe Kelly has done all of that—at scale, across decades, and in every corner of town life.
He’s coached kids to become champions, mentored students who didn’t think they could succeed, showed up at 9/11 looking for survivors for three days, fought fires in the middle of the night, and brought people together at tables that had grown too tense to be productive.
And he did all of it while managing dyslexia, raising a family, and running global businesses. Not for accolades. For impact. He also happens to be an incredibly supportive and nice person.
Join Us June 26
On June 26, the community will gather to say thank you—not for one act, but for a life of them. Joe Kelly is our tenth Sentinel. And there could be no better one to carry the decade mark.
Visit www.GreenwichSentinel.com for event details and tickets
