Biography
Kathleen “Kelly” Hackett is the managing director – Head of Family Office Services Division at Tectonic Advisors and serves as vice president and trustee at the Hackett Family Foundation.
Kelly has walked miles in her clients’ shoes. As both a thought leader in family enterprise management and a second-generation client, Kelly brings a unique, fresh perspective to the Tectonic Advisors Family Office team. She partners closely with clients on governance, succession planning, wealth education, financial management, and charitable strategies. For Kelly, ensuring families achieve their multigenerational investment, lifestyle, and philanthropic goals is not a career – it’s a calling.
A native Houstonian, Kelly has achieved a world-class education and broad professional experiences in finance and law. After graduating from Georgetown University with degrees in international business and finance, Kelly was an investment analyst at John Hancock Financial Services in Boston. She later earned her law degree from The University of Texas School of Law and spent several years as a corporate securities and M&A attorney at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and Bracewell LLP. Kelly is also a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® (CAP®) and holds certificates in Finance and Accounting from Rice University and in Business and Comparative Strategic Management from the University of Oxford.
Kelly’s professional accomplishments are matched by her relentless dedication to give back to others. Involved in volunteer activities for over two decades, Kelly has served on the boards of health, education, and child welfare organizations, including current service St. Agnes Academy; the Alliance for Catholic Education at the University of Notre Dame; and the Greater Houston Community Foundation, where she is a Council Member and an alumna of the inaugural class of the Next Gen Donor Institute.
Beyond her board duties, Kelly is also a hands-on volunteer for treasured causes, including providing at-home ministry and eucharistic services to the residents of a local assisted living facility each Sunday since 2010.
Kelly honed her expertise in family office and family foundation management as vice president of her family’s private foundation and as a managing director in Salient’s family office group. In early 2017, Kelly left Salient to found the Tectonic Advisors Family Office division. Tectonic leverages Kelly’s rare combination of personal and professional experiences, offering tailored family enterprise and wealth management services to ensure each client family can reach its own financial milestones, free up time for life’s most fulfilling activities, and build a philanthropic legacy for future generations.