Full Biography

Congresswoman Robin Kelly is honored to represent the citizens of Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District.  Since her election in 2013, she has worked to expand economic opportunity and promote public safety, sponsoring numerous bills to generate job growth and end gun violence.  

As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Kelly serves on key committees, including the Foreign Affairs Committee and its Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade.  

She also serves on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the main investigative body of the House, which oversees federal government operations and works to reduce waste, fraud and abuse. In addition, she serves as Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Information Technology and serves on the Subcommittee on National Security, working to protect our nation’s cyber security and defend our borders. She is Vice Chair of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force and Co-Chair of the Democratic Budget Group.

Representative Kelly is a member of a number of House Caucuses, including the Congressional Black Caucus, the Women’s Caucus, and she serves as Co-Chair of the Caucus on Black Women and Girls. She currently chairs the CBC’s Healthcare Braintrust, which works to address health disparities and improve health outcomes for all Americans. 

Having served at every level of government, Kelly brings extensive legislative and leadership experience to the 2nd District. She began her government service as community relations director in the Village of Matteson. She was later elected to the Illinois House of Representatives and sponsored bills supporting economic development, increasing the minimum wage and protecting consumers from fraud. She also led the fight for landmark legislation to protect victims of domestic violence and improve public safety.

Kelly continued her public career by serving as chief of staff of the Illinois State Treasurer’s Office. In this role, she pursued a progressive agenda rooted in promoting small business job creation, improving efficiencies and advancing financial literacy in underserved areas. Prior to her election to Congress, Kelly was chief administrative officer of Cook County, the second largest county in the United States.

Kelly serves on a number of boards, including the Northern Illinois University Political Science Advisory Board, Rich Township Food Pantry, and the Board of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, a bipartisan, nonprofit research and advocacy think-tank that works to promote social and economic justice. She is also a Bradley University Trustee and in 2009 was inducted into Bradley’s Centurion Society for honored alumni. She is also an active member of the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority.

A New York native, Kelly moved to Illinois after high school to attend Bradley in Peoria, where she earned her B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in counseling. She later received a Ph.D. in political science from Northern Illinois University.  She lives in Matteson with her husband, Dr. Nathaniel Horn, and has two adult children, Kelly and Ryan.