Chelsea Houlihan has joined the Mehrotra Institute as Director of Administration, where she serves as the Institute’s operational lead and administrative execution partner. Reporting to Executive Director Kristal May, Chelsea oversees the Institute’s internal operations, including facilities and operational management, budgeting support, vendor and contract coordination, milestone tracking, and cross-functional project management. In this role, she works closely with leadership across Education, Research, Products, and Community Engagement to ensure strategic priorities are delivered efficiently, collaboratively, and at a high standard of quality.
As a founding operational leader within our rapidly growing Institute, Chelsea is helping build the organizational infrastructure that will support the Institute’s long-term growth and impact. Her work focuses on developing scalable systems, streamlining workflows, and establishing repeatable processes that enable teams to execute effectively in a fast-paced and evolving environment. Known for a collaborative and service-oriented approach, Chelsea brings strong organizational leadership and a commitment to operational excellence.
Prior to joining the Mehrotra Institute, Chelsea served as the Program Manager for Specialty MBA Programs and Curricular Initiatives at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. In that role, she managed operations and programming for several MBA specialty programs, including Health Sector Management, Social Impact, and the MS in Digital Technology dual-degree program. Her responsibilities included strategic program administration, budget management, student engagement initiatives, event and conference planning, faculty collaboration, data management, and supervision of administrative staff and student teams. She also led the planning and execution of graduate case competitions, residency initiatives, and learning community programming that enhanced the overall MBA student experience.
Chelsea brings extensive experience in higher education administration, project management, and cross-functional operations, with a strong focus on building systems that support both organizational goals and community engagement. She holds a master’s degree in educational leadership and policy studies from Boston University.
