Ellen was drawn to the Colorado Lab’s strong partnerships with policymakers, social program administrators and providers, and communities across Colorado. Prior to the Colorado Lab, Ellen worked in international development as a Senior Evaluation and Learning Manager to create a new culture of learning and evidence building among teams in over 10 countries. She previously served as the sole evaluation expert within the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing, managing the evaluation of Colorado’s Medicaid program and a federal grant to integrate primary care and behavioral health across the state. Ellen has led data and evaluation, stakeholder engagement, communication, and project management efforts within the health systems transformation and international development sectors at international, state, and community levels. Ellen received her master’s in international and intercultural communications with a concentration in global health from the University of Denver.

Ellen is passionate about systems-level analysis and applying this lens to early childhood programs in Colorado. The Essential Element that speaks most strongly to her is activating findings. Working together with partners to identify what evidence would be most useful for decision making makes our work relevant, practical, and rewarding.

Ellen finds joy in watching her two toddlers learn how to navigate the world and teaching them to become strong, independent women.