Kelsey A. Richels, Ph.D.

Kelsey Richels helps organizations find clarity in complexity. Kelsey is a homegrown CMA Global team member. She started her career as an Associate Consultant. Today, she is a Senior Consultant based in Denver. Kelsey specializes in assessment strategy, data analytics, and survey insights that guide confident decision-making across all levels of an organization. As a leadership assessment expert, she partners with leaders in construction, retail, and healthcare industries where scale, speed, and complexity are part of everyday leadership.

Her background is both rigorous and real-world. Kelsey is a former Division I swimmer. She believes there is no ceiling when it comes to elite performance. She also believes that the smallest improvements can often make a monumental impact. Whether it be fine-tuning a coachee’s leadership style or going one question deeper into the data, she views her job as taking people and organizations to the next level.

Additionally, before joining CMA, Kelsey spent years teaching collegiate-level statistics. She was formally recognized and awarded for her ability to make complex ideas relatable to a non-expert audience. She now brings that same clarity to clients navigating big decisions—whether they’re evaluating leadership potential, spotting patterns in survey data, or weighing the strengths of a candidate slate. Clients value her direct communication, her ability to speak their language, and her thoughtful recommendations that focus on actionable next steps.

Raised in the rural Midwest, she understands that having access to hardworking, dedicated frontline workers can make or break a business. As the leader of CMA’s Foundational Assessment services, she helps CMA make a broader, deeper impact by leveraging targeted, industry-specific assessments to select and retain key boots-on-the-ground team members.

She holds a PhD in Industrial-Organizational Psychology with a specialization in quantitative methods from the University of Oklahoma. Outside of work, you’ll find her golfing, reading, ice fishing, and occasionally pulling tarot cards for fun. She lives in Denver with her two dogs, Sunny and Miller.

If your team is ready to make smarter talent decisions backed by data and clarity, Kelsey is ready to help. Learn more about how we use assessments to support smarter decisions.

Click here to see a list of Kelsey’s blog posts.