Aaron Kelley is a geospatial open-source advocate, speaker, and President of UpSlope Advisors, a mission-first engineering firm serving federal agencies with innovative GEOINT and IT solutions. With nearly two decades of experience supporting the Department of Defense and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), Aaron has led initiatives in outreach, training, and product management—most notably as the NGA QGIS Program Manager, where he helped grow adoption 10x.

A Certified GEOINT Professional and PMP, Aaron champions the use of FOSS tools like QGIS and GeoServer in mission-critical environments. He serves on several geospatial working groups, including OSM US Government, OGC, and the USGIF Diversity & Inclusion Working Group (as co-chair). His career reflects a deep commitment to empowering government users with open, flexible, and community-driven geospatial solutions.

When he’s not advancing open-source GEOINT, Aaron is a proud husband, father of two, and competitive triathlete. He holds degrees in Electrical Engineering from Morgan State University and Michigan State University.