Dr. Kelty Garbee

Dr. Kelty Garbee serves as Executive Director of Texas Rural Funders. Dr. Garbee has 20 years of experience with non-profits, state government, and philanthropy. She previously served as Director of Postsecondary Programs at Educate Texas and Director of Early College High Schools at the Texas Education Agency. In both roles she developed and led large-scale statewide networks with budgets of over $7 million and collaboration between K-12, higher education, and workforce partners. She also worked in the Development Office at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Garbee holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, a master’s degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs, and a doctorate in higher education from the University of Texas-Austin. Her passion for ensuring equity and access in rural Texas is fueled by her upbringing in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Lynchburg, Virginia, and her work in communities across Texas.