Principal and Co-Founder, The Red Bee Group
Kelly McNamara Corley is the Principal and Co-Founder of The Red Bee Group. She served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary of Discover Financial Services, a leading consumer credit, payments and online banking company for nearly 20 years. Her responsibilities included serving on the firm’s 10-person executive leadership team responsible for the management and strategic direction of the company. She was responsible for managing the company’s legal, regulatory, public policy and compliance matters. As Corporate Secretary, McNamara Corley supported the Discover Board of Directors on Governance matters. Prior to becoming General Counsel, McNamara Corley worked in Washington, D.C. as Managing Director of Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter’s Global Government Relations Programs for 18 years.
Under Kelly’s leadership, Discover’s legal department was recognized for pro bono initiatives, diversity and inclusion, and innovation. In 2019, Kelly was recognized at the Burton Awards in Washington, D.C. with a “Legend in the Law” Award for her leadership in the field of law. She also received the “Thought Leader of the Year” Global Counsel Award from the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and Lexology.
She currently serves on the boards of Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Rush University Medical Center, and several nonprofit organizations. She was previously appointed by the governor of Virginia to serve a four-year term on the Board of Visitors at George Mason University. Kelly founded a diversity and inclusion education program at Scalia Law School that helps equip students with skills to leverage the power of diversity and inclusion as they prepare to enter the legal profession. This program was the first diversity education program offered by a law school. The curriculum will soon be available to all law schools.
Kelly holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California, a J.D. from the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, and an honorary doctor of laws degree from George Mason University.