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Robel Kelkile joined The Hunt Institute in November 2022 as a K-12 Policy Analyst.

Prior to joining The Hunt Institute, Robel served as the Government & Community Relations Coordinator at San Francisco State University (SF State). In this role, he worked closely with the Director, Chief of Staff, and University President to execute SF State’s engagement strategy, liaison between state and federal legislators, and track legislation that may affect the university. Robel has also interned for South Dakota State Minority Leader Senator Troy Heinert and former California State Assemblymember Tony Thurmond. In both roles, he worked on casework, briefs, and researching bills. Robel helped successfully lobby the passage of Senate Bill 126 (codified law) which, recognized Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota as the official indigenous languages of the State of South Dakota. The law made South Dakota the only state in the lower 48 to recognize native indigenous languages in the statute.

Robel is originally from Berkeley, California. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a Minor in Spanish from South Dakota State University.