A Propane Personality: WLPGA’s Michael Kelly

Michael Kelly, Chief Advocacy Officer, World LPG Association

Education / Military

U.S. Army
1986-88

Georgia State University
English literature
1993-95

George Washington University
Master of International Affairs
1999-2001

Work Experience

1995-99
Teaching English abroad in Japan and Taiwan
Chrysler Corp.- Marketing

2001-06
International Chamber of Commerce – Policy department

2006-present
World LPG Association, chief advocacy officer
Previously director of market development and deputy managing director

Global Growth

Kelly says the most important factor to the growth of the propane industry globally depends on the market. “In the past, there were supply constraints, which simply don’t exist anymore. I think in some countries the driving element of growth in the market is the availability of the product. In other countries, it’s the flexibility of the product, and in other countries it’s the clean-burning nature. Whether you’re talking household air pollution or polluted mega cities in developing countries, in those places what’s attractive about propane is that it’s so clean. There’s the positive impact on environmental issues.”

Part of something positive

“I love my job. I say this all the time when I speak to people. It’s endlessly interesting … The topics we deal with are fascinating. It’s nice to work for a product that has a positive impact on people’s lives. Our industry doesn’t say this enough. Our product makes people’s lives better. People’s quality of life goes up exponentially when they are introduced to LPG.”

Favorite book

“One Hundred Years of Solitude,” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. “I’m all about the magical realism.”

Current projects

Kelly is working on two major projects for the WLPGA: Cooking for Life and LPG’s use for power generation. Cooking for Life is the association’s flagship initiative in terms of development. The goal is to convert 1 million people from cooking with biomass to cooking with LPG by 2030.

Best advice you’ve ever received

“I’m in charge of trying to find and support opportunities for the growth of the LPG industry in developing countries. I’m the liaison from the WLPGA with the development community. Whenever you use LPG in a developing-country context … WLPGA supports those projects, and I’m the point person on that. As deputy managing director, I support James Rockall in administrative and management duties.”

Multilingual

Kelly, who lives and works in Paris, is fluent in English, Spanish, French and Italian. His mother is from Ecuador, so he grew up speaking Spanish and English. When he was young, he spent six years living in Mexico City, so when he speaks Spanish he has a Mexican accent, which, he confesses, he has never managed to shed.

Hobby

“I love to cook. I studied cooking for about two years in Italy, and it’s my absolute favorite hobby.” Kelly cooks lots of Italian food, since he learned to cook in Italy, but still makes the Latin American dishes his mother made when he was young.