International Diplomacy

In 1984, Kennedy was a part of a small 6-member group that visited Grenada amid the invasion that took out Cuban and Russian occupiers following a coup; thereupon he attended the trial of some of the coup plotters, and met with political party leaders and government officials through several Caribbean islands. Six years later in 1990, he was selected to be a delegate to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization held in Paris in the wake of the collapse of the Berlin Wall. He has been active in international affairs through astronomy, astronautics and agricultural groups traveling throughout Europe, including Russia first shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and again in 2010 to be briefed on their space facilities at Star City and Korolyov; the Middle East; north and central Africa; and China in Asia, being briefed by academic and diplomatic professionals before and during many of his foreign visits. He has traversed approximately 60 countries around the globe.

Wise County and City of Norton Circuit Court Clerk

Kennedy has served since December 1995 as Clerk of Court of Wise County, Virginia and City of Norton, Virginia, first winning in a special election filling the unexpired term of the late C. Gary Rakes. Subsequently, Kennedy was reelected in 1999 for a full 8-year term, and again in 2007 and 2015^[4] He is now the longest serving Clerk of Court and constitutional officer in Wise County history as he completes his last term 31 December 2023. During his tenure, Kennedy led the management of the paper-to-digital automated systems of the county's historic criminal and civil case files and real estate records from paper ranging from 1856 to digital media early in the 21st century. He led a paradigm shift in the use of judicial information technology throughout Virginia on several fronts earning him regional, state, and national accolades during his tenure as an innovator and disrupter 'thought leader.' In 1999, United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Conner inducted him into the prestigious Fellow of the Institute for Court Management and gained two commending citations from Virginia Secretaries of Technology and the Office of Executive Secretary of the Virginia Supreme Court for innovations.

Realizing there was no 'official map' of Wise County early in the onset of his first term, he managed the creation of the first Wise County Geographic Information System for Wise County in 2001.  

Businessman & Attorney

Involved in the business community, Kennedy served on the board of Black Diamond Savings Bank until its successful and profitable merger, and several other entrepreneurial start-ups leading him to become a Napoleon Hill Scholar. He is a member of the Virginia State Bar since 1982, maintaining his Virginia license to practice law in good standing throughout his professional career, and gained admission to numerous federal and state courts. He has consulted several domestic and international aviation, aerospace, and logistics companies in more recent years.

Serving the State of Virginia & Appalachia at Large

Remaining active in state affairs, Kennedy was appointed by multiple governors and served their administrations on the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, the Virginia Aviation Board, the Virginia Aerospace Council, the Virginia Unmanned Aircraft Systems Advisory board, and the Virginia Geographic Information Technology board. He was also appointed to the University of Virginia College at Wise board for a term. A Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates Speaker recently appointed him to serve on the Virginia-Israel Advisory Board.  From these positions, he counseled legislators on policy changes with draft aerospace and technology legislation utilizing his previous experience as a member of the Virginia General Assembly.

During his public tenure, Kennedy frequently reached out to offer STEM education the region's youth through NASA DEVELOP programs using satellite remote sensing data; an International Space Station downlink, including the first female commercial astronaut Anousheh Ansari, NASA astronaut Leland Melvin, a mock-up Robonaut-1, and Moon rock at the University of Virginia's College at Wise for thousands regional youth;  Aerospace Days at the Lonesome Pine Airport which included rockets, remote controlled jets, drones and other remote controlled flight vehicles for thousands of spectators; the first FAA-approved drone delivery flight at Lonesome Pine Airport; student space station experiments; student satellites to low Earth orbit launched from Wallops Island, VA; and hundreds of SpaceX Starlink accounts for rural Appalachian Mountain students.^[5]