Born and raised in the suburbs of New York City, Ellen received her bachelor’s degree in art history from Hobart & William Smith Colleges history, her master’s degree from American University in arts management and a graduate certificate in college counseling with distinction from UCLA Extension.
She held public affairs positions at the National Endowment for the Arts, Spoleto Festival USA, the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation, and the White House.
She and her husband moved to Baltimore in 1996 from northern Virginia to raise their three sons.
Ellen began her journey in college access and educational equity when her eldest son was a student at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. At the time there were many students who held great potential but due to the class size were not receiving the counseling they deserved. As president of the Poly Parent Faculty Association, she encouraged the administration to enhance the college counseling it provided to its students, which they did by contracting with CollegeBound, assigning a College Access Program Specialist to the school. (Now there are two!)
Following her passion for equity in education, she began working for ¡Adelante Latina!, a community-based college access program for academically promising Baltimore City Latinas. During her eight years there, she helped dozens of students through the college application and scholarship process, helping them find colleges which met their financial and academic needs, in addition to helping grow the organization, its scope and impact.
Ellen is thrilled to join the CollegeBound Foundation team where she brings her knowledge of college counseling, Baltimore City resources and her social networks to the role of Strategic Partnerships Specialist where she has the potential to impact the lives of diverse students from across the city.
When she is not following the latest news on college admissions or playing Connections in the New York Times, you can find Ellen on her bike, in her garden, walking her dogs, or caring for her cat Frederick Douglass and her Baltimore City backyard chickens.
espokes@collegeboundfoundation.org