Ellen is looking forward to leveraging her more than 30 years of management experience to give back to her community. After earning a degree in Economics from Duke University and an MBA from Stanford University, Ellen settled in San Francisco. She worked in management consulting, developing strategies for a diverse client base covering financial services and healthcare. She spent several years working for a biotech startup and then landed at FICO, where she led an analytic sales support team working with major banks around the world.

After her first daughter was born, Ellen turned her focus to an entrepreneurial project. She and her husband founded a winery in Sonoma that grew to 15 employees producing over 13,000 cases of award-winning Pinot noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon wines. While she worked in many capacities at the winery from HR to newsletter editor to marketing, her primary responsibility was as CFO for 17 years. The winery was ultimately sold, and Ellen’s family relocated to Orange County in 2021. Ellen currently resides in Laguna Niguel with her husband Craig, their two daughters, and their dog Dodger.