Kristen Stortz Keyes is a member of the Class of 2009 Baldwin Scholars. Originally from Edina, Minnesota, she graduated from Duke in May of 2009 with degrees in Political Science, Sociology and Markets and Management. In 2015 she graduated from The Wharton School of Business with an MBA in Finance and Management. Kristen worked on Wall Street for 14 years as an Executive Director on the Equities trading floor at J.P. Morgan. In 2022 she joined Paxos, a blockchain infrastructure company, as Director of Strategy.
At Duke, Kristen was an active member of the Baldwin Scholars and Pi Beta Phi sorority and was the Campus Campaign Manager for Teach for America. She studied International Business abroad in Barcelona, Spain during her junior year. During her last semester, she researched the topic of women and mentoring as an independent study and made recommendations for the creation of a new program for undergraduate women at Duke. Those who know Kristen would describe her as confident, optimistic, and always one with a sense of humor.
Her mom has been one of her biggest role models throughout her life challenges and accomplishments. Kristen asserts, “From a young age, she instilled in me a sense of confidence, passion, and tenacity; she taught me that settling for less than my best is a choice, and one I never have to make.”
She advises first-year Duke women, "Be fiercely loyal to yourself and what you stand for. You owe it to yourself and everyone in your life that has helped you get where you are today.”