Kelly Watson
Partner, Risk Consulting Leader
Kelly J. Watson is the National Service Group Leader of KPMG's U.S. and Americas Risk Consulting Practice, leading a team of more than 4,500 partners and professionals who provide the risk and compliance insights organizations need to protect themselves and grow.
Prior to this position, Kelly spent six years as the Office Managing Partner of the firm’s New Jersey Business Unit, which houses more than 1,100 people who serve the state’s largest companies and mid-market clients. Kelly is a global lead partner, and serves as an account executive on an SEC audit client. Elected in 2013, by her fellow partners for a five-year term on the KPMG LLP Board of Directors, Kelly serves as the Board's Lead Director, chairs the Board Process & Evaluation Committee, and also sits on the Partnership & Employer of Choice Committee. Kelly’s international experience includes more than two years in the KPMG Czech Republic member firm’s Prague office.
A fierce advocate for developing leaders in the firm, the accounting profession, and the community, Kelly is a frequent speaker on business and leadership issues. She is also active in philanthropic activities. She initiated KPMG’s relationship with the United Nations Millennium Village Program, a global development initiative designed to alleviate poverty and promote gender equality in Africa. She currently chairs the New Jersey Women’s “Network-to-Network” organization, a consortium of women leaders from some of New Jersey’s most prestigious companies that provides a forum for professional women to share best practices and form mutually beneficial business relationships.
She is also on the Advisory Council of The New Agenda and recently, she joined the Advisory Board of the World Childhood Foundation. Kelly’s exceptional leadership has been widely recognized. Kelly received a BS from Fordham University in public accounting and finance. She is a certified public accountant in New York and New Jersey, and a member of the New York Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.