Kellen earned his Bachelor’s degree in Urban and Regional Studies in 2023 from Cornell University, and is from Ossining, NY in Westchester County. At Cornell, he also minored in Spanish and Latin American and Caribbean Studies. With the Just Places Lab, he has focused on the utilization of mapmaking and place-based learning as pedagogical tools, as exemplified in the Dreaming-on-Hudson project at Ossining High School in Ossining, NY.
He is currently the Executive Assistant at the Urban Design Forum in NYC, and is involved with placemaking efforts in Ossining, NY. His previous work has included utilizing mixed methods to support informal communities and urban commons in Rome, Italy, researching histories of urban political protest and public space management practices for HR&A Advisors, and working with Kawe Gidaa-naanaagadawendaamin Manoomin on the preservation of wild rice in Upper Midwestern lakes
