Chair and Director
With over two decades of strategic leadership across government and the private sector, Ellen-Blair is a finance executive who brings a unique holistic perspective rooted in her experience in public policy, operations, and client/stakeholder-oriented work on the buy and sell-side. At William Blair, she was responsible for high-level engagement with clients, including the development of a global client service platform to obtain insights and feedback from the firm’s clients on their individual and collective interactions. Ellen-Blair created and led that global platform from Chicago and London in her eight years at the firm. She also developed and led William Blair’s CEO HUDDLE, an exclusive community for chief executives in the firm’s client network to share ideas, resources, and strategies through in-person convenings and virtual engagement.
Prior to joining William Blair in 2015, Ellen-Blair was Vice President and Chief of Staff to the Chairman and CEO at Ariel Investments. In that role, she was responsible for providing strategic and operational support, as well as translating the firm’s short and long-term vision into actionable strategies. She was the CEO’s chief adviser on political & public policy issues and led key corporate governance initiatives. This included serving as the executive director of the Black Corporate Directors Conference, an annual gathering of Black directors serving on Fortune 500 boards. In addition, she was a registered representative of the firm and focused her business development efforts on the federal pension and foundation/endowment community.
Before Ariel, Ellen-Blair spent nearly a decade in Washington, DC operating at the nexus of politics, policy, and business. She served as the Staff Director for the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Security, International Trade and Finance. In that role, Ellen-Blair set and implemented former Chairman Evan Bayh’s (D-IN) agenda for issues related to international finance and served as Bayh's chief adviser on all Banking Committee and economic issues. She was responsible for his legislative priorities (specifically on corporate governance) in the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reform bill enacted in July 2010. Ellen-Blair began her career in public service working as a senior advisor for Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN). Following her time with Congressman Ford, she worked in the government affairs practice of Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schreck, LLP.
Ellen-Blair serves on the board of Equity Commonwealth (NYSE: EQC; Audit, Nominating and Governance Committee) and Oil-Dri Corporation of America (NYSE: ODC; Chair, Nominating and Governance; Chair, Compensation Committee). She is a trustee of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (Chair, Audit Committee; Finance, Executive Committee) and is Chair of the board of Uniting Voices Chicago (formerly Chicago Children’s Choir). Ellen-Blair is also a member of the Obama Foundation Inclusion Council and the Economic Club of Chicago. She was recognized by the Association for Fundraising Professionals Chicago with the 2022 Emerging Philanthropist Award. Ellen-Blair was also named one of Crain’s Chicago Business “40 under 40” in 2014, as well as a Crain’s 2021 Notable Nonprofit Board Leader. In 2020, she was named one of Directors & Boards “Directors to Watch.” She graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in political science and earned a JD from Georgetown University Law Center.