Our people
Ralph Kelly
Co-Founder
Ralph Kelly is the father of Stuart and Thomas. With the support of David Anstee, Ralph and Kathy started the Thomas Kelly Youth Foundation. As the CEO of Stay Kind, Ralph has pro-actively campaigned for behavioural change in the community in relation to violence, bullying, hazing and suicide. He has also advocated for social support for victims of violence as well as violence protection.
Under Ralph’s direction, numerous initiatives have been established including a Financial Hardship Victim Support program through the NSW Department of Justice, Take Kare Safe Spaces in the Sydney CBD and the development of the Take Kare app in partnership with UTS. The Take Kare Safe Space program has recorded over 73,000 instances of assistance since December 2014. Ralph oversees the Take Kare program and Stay Kind’s daily operations. Save Spaces have been replicated in Canberra ACT as well as Soho in Central London.
Kathy Kelly
Co-Founder
Kathy Kelly is the mother of Thomas and Stuart. Kathy co-founded Stay Kind (formerly the Thomas Kelly Youth Foundation) with her husband Ralph.
Kathy focuses her time on positive community contribution through four key platforms: Advocacy; Prevention; Education and Kindness. She communicates social issues from the heart and motivates action through her passion to create change.
She has spent the past 9 years as a Director on our Board and has recently stepped back from this role. Kathy is now directing her time around her passion to help others, though sharing her personal journey. ‘When we find community and understanding, we find hope.’
Kathy’s love for her children and sheer determination honours the memory of her boys and gives all our children the chance for a better life.
Madeleine Kelly
Madeleine (or Maddie as she is known to her friends) was only 17 years old when her older brother Thomas Kelly (18 years old) was killed due to an unprovoked attack on a Sydney street in July 2012. At the time she was studying at her school in the NSW Southern Highlands for her Higher School Certificate (HSC).
Maddie chose to attend all of the ensuing court sessions over a number of years following her brothers death, from the Supreme Court of NSW, to the Supreme Court of Criminal Appeal to the High Court of Australia. It was during this period that Maddie decided she would become a lawyer. She was admitted to Macquarie University where she graduated with her degree in Bachelor of Laws (LLB), Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Public Policy, Law and Governance.
Maddie was 21 years old when her younger brother Stuart took his own life in July 2016 at the age of 18, while she was studying at Macquarie University.
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Anyone at any age can be a Kindness Champion, all you need is a desire to spread kindness.
Stay Kind actively advocates, educates and promotes acts of kindness.