Kelly Crowley ’99 is a two-sport Paralympic medalist, a retired professional cyclist, and an accessibility evangelist. She joined Visa almost three years ago through the Olympian & Paralympian Business Leadership Program, and is currently working as a user experience researcher and the lead evangelist on Visa's Accessibility Team.

Prior to working for Visa, Kelly was a self-represented athlete and small business owner, speaking all over the country on topics related to disability-inclusion. She has been a middle-school PE teacher and director/head coach of a high school swimming program. She has also run clinics for a variety of audiences on Para sport development.

Prior to that, Kelly spent nearly a decade working in a variety of roles in the non-profit sector. She has a master’s degree in public policy and is currently pursuing an MBA in business intelligence.

Background

Kelly was born with a “funny little arm.” She has been an athlete all her life, playing many sports growing up, including high school basketball. She had an opportunity to swim with a Division III college program, but turned it down when a friend told her the Olympics were for “people with natural talent.” 

Over the course of her professional athletic career, Kelly won numerous National Championship titles in both swimming and cycling. As a swimmer, Kelly held two world records, competed at the 2003 FINA World Championships, and won two gold medals at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens.

As a cyclist, Kelly was a World Champion time trialist in 2007 and raced professionally with Primal/Map My Ride women’s team in 2012. Kelly won two bronze medals in cycling at the London 2012 Paralympic Games despite breaking her collarbone in a professional race five and a half weeks before the Opening Ceremony. 

Kelly collaborates with numerous sport organizations in Northern California to provide competitive sport opportunities for youth and adults with disabilities. She is married to a cyclist/lawyer/chef. They live with two cats, one of which sleeps all day, while the other would play all day if the humans would stop working and throw toys.