Her Story
About Ellie
I'm a freshman at Cornell University majoring in Industrial and Labor Relations with a minor in Indigenous Studies. My whole goal is to apply an organizational and labor lens to sport organizations, analyzing who gets to be in the locker room, who gets to be on the pitch, on the field, the court, the rink, and understanding the structural forces that shape access and equality in the sports field. I'm passionate about Indigenous Studies because I'm a backpacker who spends a lot of time in Alaska and Wyoming, always on Indigenous lands, and I feel I have a duty to understand the colonialist legacies of my own community and how imperialism has affected the very places I live and walk on. Before college, I was a semi-pro snowboarder for a few years, and my first podium meant the world to me because I'm not from some big ski town, I'm from the city in Washington, so seeing myself on the same stage as people who've been training their whole lives really affirmed my self-confidence. At age 16, I interned in the House of Representatives with Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro representing Connecticut's 3rd District. There, I noticed interns were getting paid next to nothing, and I was able to advocate for better working conditions for everyone, which inspired me to get into labor relations in the first place. I attended the Madeira School, an all-girls boarding school in McLean, Virginia, for three years, then completed my senior year at Templeton Academy while working full-time in retail, eventually working up to an unofficial corporate position where I worked with MasterCard representatives, put on community events, and implemented DEI policy in my workplace.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Ellie
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I am privileged to grow up with family that has a very wide network, culturally, socially, just everywhere, and going to an Ivy League university, I have also gotten my hands on some of the resources that exist when it comes to going to a prestigious institution. That being said, I think the most important thing I have done for my own career and my own education is based on these values, not taking advantage of them themselves. I think networking, get yourself out there, cold email if you have to, cold call if you have to. Really create an identity for yourself. Brag. You know, I'm a very humble person in my day-to-day, but if you read my resume or were in an interview for a job with me, that would not come across. So don't diminish your accomplishments. And don't just focus on building a career, focus on building a network. Those are probably the best lessons I've learned.
02What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I would say accountability. I am someone that exists in my studies in a lot of spaces where I am a minority, whether that be because of my race, or because of my socioeconomic status, or because of my education, or my level of knowledge, or just my experience. And I think it's important to be in these spaces and listen, and when you make a mistake or say something that doesn't match the values of the community that you're engaging with, take accountability for that. And think about how you can do better, and put a plan in action. So probably accountability would be the value that I'm currently working on living up to the most.
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