Kelly McAdoo
City Administrator, City of Santa Barbara
2026
Kelly currently serves as the City Administrator, City Clerk, and City Treasurer for the City of Santa Barbara, California, a municipal corporation with over 1,100 employees. She began her tenure in May 2024. The City of Santa Barbara is located about 90 miles north of Los Angeles on the Pacific Ocean and has a population of approximately 88,000 residents. Prior to arriving in Santa Barbara, she served the City of Hayward, California in the San Francisco Bay Area for almost 14 years, the last 8 years as City Manager. She also served Hayward as Assistant City Manager. Prior to joining the Hayward team, she worked for the Cities of Palo Alto and Fremont, California in a variety of capacities in the City Manager’s Office and other city departments. Ms. McAdoo earned Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science, Economics, and International Studies and a Master’s degree in Public Administration, all from the University of Kansas.
My network of professionals working on countering hate in all its forms grew exponentially after attending Eradicate Hate in 2021. The myriad voices represented at Eradicate Hate, from big tech companies to academic researchers to those with lived experience, reinforced to me the importance of cross-cutting and collaborative approaches to counter hate and its devastating impacts on society. I’ve been fortunate to sustain and build those networks with many of those I met at Eradicate Hate in 2021.
