Ms. Jessica Keith is a Director of State Services, Custody, and Holder Reporting at Kelmar. Ms. Keith holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Economics, and Finance (2012) from Arkansas Tech University. She also holds certification (2017) as a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) from the Institute of Internal Auditors. With state government experience beginning in 2015, including experience in the field of unclaimed property since 2019, Ms. Keith is an executive leader who works to increase efficiencies and effectiveness through a practical approach, focusing on personnel development, risk management, and operational controls. Ms. Keith applies her unclaimed property expertise and management experience to ensure delivery of the highest level of service and support associated with Kelmar’s State Services, Custody, and Holder Reporting for government unclaimed property programs.

Ms. Keith joined Kelmar in December of 2024. With critical insight and knowledge of every facet of government unclaimed property program administration, Ms. Keith is responsible for overseeing that all service level agreements with Kelmar’s clients are met in the delivery of State Services, including securities custody management and holder report processing. In her capacity as Director, Ms. Keith works closely with Kelmar’s State Services management team as well as Kelmar’s client states to monitor all levels of service delivery and to ensure proper resources are maintained to provide a high degree of efficiency, effectiveness, and client satisfaction.

Government Service

Prior to joining Kelmar, Ms. Keith held a steady progression of positions and responsibilities serving the State of Arkansas for more than nine (9) years. While with the Arkansas Auditor of State, Ms. Keith held the role of Assistant Chief of Staff and Unclaimed Property Director from 2023-2024 responsible for overseeing State staff, managing day-to-day operations of the Arkansas Unclaimed Property Program, and assisting with the transition of a new Auditor of State in 2023. As Deputy Auditor of State, Chief of Staff, and Acting Unclaimed Property Director from 2021-2023, Ms. Keith focused on the professional development of State staff, streamlining departments and processes to increase efficiencies, overseeing the Arkansas Unclaimed Property Program, and working closely with Arkansas Legislative Audit. As Internal Auditor/Risk Consultant from 2019-2021, Ms. Keith guided State staff through Arkansas’s state-wide Control Self-Assessment (CSA) process to evaluate and strengthen the internal controls of the office, assisted with the implementation of a new unclaimed property management system, reconciled out-of-balance security issues, and resolved audit findings through complex security reviews.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Keith was an Audit Coordinator from 2015-2018 with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration, Office of Internal Audit. As Audit Coordinator, Ms. Keith worked with management and business process owners in many State offices to identify risks and offer recommendations to strengthen systems of internal control, performed investigations of fraud, performed audits, prepared audit reports, and assisted with the design and implementation of the state-wide CSA. Before serving the State of Arkansas, Ms. Keith was an Internal Auditor from 2012-2015 at two (2) Arkansas-based financial institutions.