2026 ReFED Food Waste Solutions Summit

Kelsie DeFrancia is the Circular Economy Senior Administrator for the City and County of Denver’s Office of Climate Action, Sustainability & Resiliency. She leads the interagency implementation of Denver’s Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance and supports additional policies that reduce waste and consumption and advance circularity.

Previously, she spent more than a decade leading a research program on urban sustainability policy and management in New York City and teaching at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies.

She holds a Master of Public Administration in environmental science and policy and a postgraduate certificate in sustainable finance from Columbia University. Before attending Columbia, she got her start in sustainability by performing field work for the U.S. Geological Survey in Utah and with environmental conservation programs in Latin America.