MyGreenBirmingham.com • Birmingham, Alabama
“When you are driven, things just fall into place,” proclaimed entrepreneur and environmentalist Natalie Kelly. The ’05 Auburn University graduate saw her passion for the environment drive the creation of Kelly Stewardship Partners and MyGreenBirmingham.com, Alabama’s first online resource for eco-friendly living.
Kelly is committed to implementing environmental stewardship and connecting Birmingham to sustainable living practices. She is also civically engaged as a community leader in service organizations and projects such as the UAB Minority Health and Research Center, the Junior League of Birmingham, and as a Commissioner for Red Mountain Park.
Kelly’s career path has not always been so clear, however. While at Auburn, she majored in English with a concentration in British literature and “dabbled in a little bit of everything”. The more she participated and learned around campus, the more she grew as a confident leader.
“Auburn made me fearless,” she declared, and indeed, her extracurricular work led to a marketing internship with Pfizer in New York City where she learned business skills she still uses today. While British literature may appear impractical in Kelly’s case, “A degree is not limiting,” she explained. She claims she followed her passion and studied what made her happiest.
One of the most influential experiences in Kelly’s career development came while on a mission trip to Uganda just after graduation from Auburn. There she witnessed firsthand a poor system of waste disposal, pollution, and extreme poverty, which transformed her worldview and encouraged her to take civic action.
She realized upon her return home that there was a lack of leadership on green issues in Alabama. By combining her Auburn education and experiences with her passions for community service and green living, Kelly saw an opportunity to make an impact. “It’s all about need, and I saw a great need in my community.”
Kelly responded to that need with Kelly Stewardship Partners, her public relations and consulting firm dedicated to sustainable living and communications. This eventually led to the development of her web resource, MyGreenBirmingham.com, in 2009. Her business model was built on a foundation of grassroots engagement and community involvement.
Her website is available for use by non-profits and provides an invaluable service to the citizens of Birmingham simply by listening to their needs and responding through strategic marketing and creative action. For example, MyGreenBirmingham.com features a “Green Guide” which lists local eco-friendly businesses and services. Previously, there had been a disjunction between this niche market and consumers, but now Kelly’s Green Guide allows easy browsing for shoppers, and an outlet for small businesses. “I educate people, sometimes without them even knowing it,” Kelly revealed, “I just want to weave everyone together.”
Kelly sees her work as multifaceted and emphasizes her role as both an innovator and a doer. Her community action and presence has ranged from hosting a “Lunch and Learn” series to educate city officials about environmental issues, to encouraging younger people to interact and engage in dialogue about modern civil rights issues in honor of the upcoming 50th anniversary celebration of the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham.
She advocates for an “on-the-ground” approach. “New life needs to be breathed into things,” she explained. “We need to better connect students and young professionals to the community.” Currently, she has a vision for growth of her web resource and services to other cities, with a desire to expand in Auburn. “The students have such a green focus here,” noted Kelly, “and everyone is so involved!”
As Kelly continues her role as a civically engaged professional, she advises fellow members of the Auburn Family currently investigating careers or passions to simply “take advantage of every resource available—people and professors are here to help you.” She urges students to make their time at Auburn worthwhile by going for every available opportunity and pursuing anything that sparks their interest. As the English major noted, “You write your own story.”
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