Dr. Chelsea Richard

Dr. Chelsea Richard served as a panelist on Palmetto Perspectives: Education Special - Smart Thinking in the Age of AI.

Dr. Chelsea Richard is the Vice President of Operations at Central Carolina Community Foundation.  Her roles and responsibilities include integrating systems, strengthening processes, and guiding the organization’s evolution as a regional and national leader in community philanthropy.

Chelsea brings over a decade of leadership experience in strategy, evaluation, and organizational effectiveness across public and nonprofit sectors. Most recently, she served as Chief of Strategy and Research at South Carolina First Steps, where she led performance management, strategic planning, and data systems development to support a $74M portfolio of programs and initiatives.

Chelsea has designed and implemented statewide case management systems, built infrastructure for data-informed decision-making, and co-led the development of multi-year strategic plans for both government and nonprofit networks. She also played a key role in advancing interagency data sharing, staff engagement systems, and cross-functional capacity building, including interim oversight of communications and development.

Prior to First Steps, Chelsea held roles at the South Carolina Department of Public Health, the National Institutes of Health, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She holds a PhD and MSPH in Epidemiology from the University of South Carolina and a BS in Biology from the University of Massachusetts Boston. She is an adjunct instructor of public health at the University of South Carolina and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Originally from Norfolk, MA, she has called Columbia home since 2013. Chelsea and her husband, Drew, Deputy Assessor of Appraisal for Richland County, live in Rosewood with a full house of two dogs, one cat, and one energetic toddler.