Ellen O'Connell

In 2003: "Ellen Churchill O'Connell and James Steuart Cruickshank were married...Ms. O'Connell, 38, is keeping her name. She works in New York as the director of board relations and special projects for the International Rescue Committee.. She is also a Ph.D. candidate in cultural anthropology at the City University Graduate Center... She is the daughter of Jane Burke O'Connell and Dr. Ralph A. O'Connell of New York. Her father is the provost and dean of New York Medical College in Valhalla, N.Y. Her mother is the board president of the Altman Foundation, which supports education and health programs for the poor in New York." [1]

"Ellen currently works as a consultant in the capacity as Executive Vice President for Space for Giants, a conservation organization working in nine countries in Africa. Space for Giants is primarily focused on habitat protection, conservation investment, and combatting the illegal wildlife trade through judicial reform and rule of law.

​"Ellen oversees the Space for Giants global strategy and operations and provides strategic leadership in marketing, communications and branding helping develop a stronger identity and presence for Space for Giants in the marketplace. She also leads the agency's efforts to build the infrastructure and systems needed to scale the organization to the next level.

​"Ellen also currently serves as the President of Ngaren, an ambitious project spearheaded by world renowned conservationist, paleontologist and politician Richard E. Leakey to build a cultural center in the Rift Valley of Kenya. Ngaren will tell the story of the origins of humankind through dynamic, immersive and state of the art experiences but also serve as a cautionary tale designed to warn visitors and viewers about climate change, extinction and the challenges our planet faces...

"From 2014 to 2018, Ellen was the Executive Director of Tusk USA where she oversaw a grant portfolio of 80 conservation projects in 20 countries in Africa. She led a three year turn around plan growing the agency trusts budget from $650K to $5.8M in less than 2.5 years.

​"From 1999 to 2014, Ellen served as Vice President at the humanitarian aid organization, the International Rescue Committee (IRC). As part of a senior leadership team, who grew the budget from $100M to $650M, she oversaw board relations, governance, operations and supply chain in 40 countries and 22 cities in the USA for a staff of over 14,000 employees. In her capacity, she supervised a global staff and managed worldwide operations. She led high level delegations to over 25 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East and worked with resettlement offices in the USA to support refugee resettlement and advocacy efforts.

"Previously, Ellen was the Associate Executive Director at Covenant House New York from 1991 to 1999 and the Director of Fundraising at Covenant House International from 1989-1991. In 1997, she designed and opened a social entrepreneur for-profit restaurant in Greenwich Village in NYC, that provided job training to at-risk and homeless youth."

• Former Executive Director, Tusk USA