Jill Kelley

In 2016, Yale University invited Kelley to give a speech on privacy rights and Internet security, and reform and stronger protection on electronic communications. The New York Times alluded to Jill Kelley as "An Apostle for Privacy".

In 2014, she received the support of two U.S. Congressmen to advocate for stronger privacy rights using her story to "bring awareness to the damages that can be caused by government overreach and unwarranted searches of emails so that history will not repeat itself, and this never happens to another innocent family again." She has since become a privacy rights advocate and activist for internet security. Her memoir, Collateral Damage: Petraeus, Power, Politics and the Abuse of Privacy seeks to bring awareness to the damage that can be caused by government overreach and unwarranted searches.

In May 2012, Kelley issued a complaint to the FBI over a series of anonymous stalking e-mails she had received. The threatening emails were traced to Paula Broadwell, the biographer who had an affair with General David Petraeus. Kelley became a focus of media coverage when her name was leaked, tying her to the FBI investigation. On June 3, 2013, Kelley filed a privacy lawsuit against the federal government alleging government officials violated her privacy rights by maliciously leaking her name and unlawfully searching her personal email communications. In November 2013, Kelley described herself as the "human face" of the damage that can be caused by abusive government probing into personal emails and communications of law-abiding citizens.

In May 2012, Kelley complained to an FBI investigator of harassing e-mails sent by an anonymous person. In her communication with the FBI, Kelley stated that the e-mails appeared to be an attempt to blackmail General Petraeus. After the threats increased, and included her family's whereabouts, Kelley filed an official report with the FBI in June 2012; Her complaint of harassing emails she received by the cyber-stalker, Paula Broadwell, led to the FBI's discovery of CIA Director General David Petraeus's extramarital affair. The stalker was reported to be Paula Broadwell, mistress of David Petraeus. During the course of the criminal investigation, government officials disclosed Kelley's name as the victim to the Washington Post, along with the evidentiary emails she provided to the FBI. It was followed by revelations that FBI agents searched "years" of Kelley's personal e-mails not pertinent or relevant to the case, which was followed by false descriptions of her personal emails by a series of hints to the press about emails between U.S.’s top commander in Afghanistan, General John R. Allen. The accusations sparked an investigation by the Department of Defense, in which the Inspector General's report concluded the government leaks and accusations were baseless and the email content was not improper. Nonetheless the false accusations stated by government officials, made Kelley a near-daily feature of the media, creating a sideshow at her family's expense. November 6th, 2013 Kelley penned an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal warning against government surveillance by describing herself as the "human face" of the damage that can be caused by government probing into Americans' personal communications. Since her story, she became an advocate for privacy rights to "prevent her unwarranted tragedy from ever happening to another innocent family."

On June 3, 2013, Kelley filed a privacy lawsuit against the federal government alleging that investigators violated her privacy rights by unlawfully searching her personal emails and disclosing false descriptions of the nature of her emails to the media. In addition, she stated "false and untrue headlines, created a media sideshow" at her expense, including being wrongly implicated in an extramarital affair between Petraeus and Broadwell. In November 2013, Kelley described herself as the "human face" of the damage that can be caused by government probing into communications of law-abiding citizens. As a result of this incident, Kelley has become an advocate for internet privacy and security. According to a lawsuit Kelley and her husband filed against the FBI, Department of Defense and other governmental agencies on June 3, 2013, "[b]y disclosing the contents of the Kelleys' emails, by either directly sharing contents of the emails or making statements suggesting that the content of the emails was lurid, government officials served Mrs. Kelley up on a platter to be devoured in a frenzy of salacious speculation regarding the nature of her relationship with Director Petraeus."

In July 2013, she was sought out by an Afghan Parliament member to create a dialogue between his government and the U.S. around the possibility of the withdrawal of U.S. troops after 2014. In response to the request Kelley said, "I am honored to resume my focus to promote cross-cultural dialogue and global trust for a peaceful and strategic exit to help our U.S. and Coalition forces transition out of Afghanistan".

In 1999, Kelley married cancer surgeon Dr. Scott Kelley whom she met when she was publishing medical research at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Kelley completed his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College, attended Columbia University Medical School, and completed surgical residency at the University of Pennsylvania. Following their marriage, Jill Kelley discontinued her medical studies to move to Tampa with Dr. Kelley, and they subsequently had three children. She is the inventor and owner of a number of biomedical patents that she developed while raising her children.

Jill Kelley (born June 3, 1975) is a philanthropist, a former diplomat, and a former South Korean Honorary Consul . Kelley was the former military ambassador and diplomatic liaison to General James Mattis at United States Central Command. Her work at the highest levels of international leadership played a crucial role in supporting U.S. military operations expanding over the multi-national forces of 60 countries. Jill Kelley has been recognized as one of the most globally instrumental Arab-American women.

Kelley was born in Beirut, Lebanon, on June 3, 1975. Her family includes her identical twin sister, attorney Natalie Khawam; a brother, attorney David Khawam; and sister, Caroline. Jill's parents are Catholics who immigrated to the United States from Beirut, Lebanon in the mid-1970s. Kelley lived in the Philadelphia area until her mid-20s, where she was nicknamed Gigi. After receiving an undergraduate degree at Beaver College, she conducted medical research at the University of Pennsylvania and took medical courses at Hahnemann University Hospital.