Biography

Raina Kelley is managing editor for "The Undefeated," ESPN's content initiative exploring the intersections of sports, race and culture. She oversees the site's day-to-day content and spearheads key initiatives, reporting directly to Kevin Merida, senior vice president and editor-in-chief for the cross-platform content hub.

Before joining "The Undefeated," Kelley served as deputy editor at ESPN The Magazine, where she was a leading driver of ESPN's long-form journalism across different platforms (print, digital and audio-visual) and worked closely with some of the company's leading storytellers.

Kelley joined ESPN in May 2011 as a senior editor at ESPN The Magazine responsible for the publication's coverage of the National Football League, tennis, action sports, the Olympics and ESPN Enterprise Unit. She was a member of the senior editorial leadership team responsible for successfully merging ESPN's print and digital content units under one umbrella.

Prior to ESPN, Kelley was a writer for Newsweek magazine where she penned a column on American culture, usually centered around issues of race, gender and politics for the magazine, Newsweek.com and Newsweek/Daily Beast. She joined Newsweek in 2003 as an associate editor and left as a staff writer in 2011. While at Newsweek, she appeared on numerous television programs to discuss her cultural criticism including the Charlie Rose Show, Good Morning America, The Today Show and CNN's American Morning.

The 2008 Presidential campaign and eventual election of America's first African American President offered Kelley a unique opportunity to delve into thought-provoking commentary and experiential writing about race in America. At Newsweek, she won a number of NY NABJ awards for her work on race and culture and was a 2010 Newswomen's Club of NY Front Page Award winner for her contribution to a Newsweek.com package entitled "The Beauty Advantage."

A 1992 graduate of theater arts from Yale University, Kelley started her professional career as a member of the literary staff at the Aboutface Theater Company (AFTC).
- IMDb mini biography by: ESPN Official Site Bio