Ellen O'Connell, Vice President for Administration and Board Relations

Ellen O’Connell is the IRC’s vice president for administration and board relations, with responsibility for the agency’s Global Supply Chain functions and is the primary liaison with the IRC’s board of directors and overseers.

Ms. O’Connell joined IRC in 1999 after a ten-year tenure at Covenant House, the agency that serves homeless, runaway and at-risk young people.  At Covenant House, she was the treasurer and associate executive director.  Her experience includes program development, fund raising and operations management.  Earlier, Ms. O’Connell worked as a research associate at the National Urban League and as assistant director of research and publications working on a longitudinal study on immigration and discrimination in the United States.  She holds a B.A. from Georgetown University, a master’s degree in public administration from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and a master’s degree in anthropology from the New School for Social Research She completed Ph.D. coursework work in cultural anthropology at City University of New York Graduate Center.  She is a visiting lecturer at New York Medical College and has taught non-profit management and anthropology courses at NYU, Cornell, the New School and other universities.  She holds a certificate in Non-Profit Management from Columbia University’s Senior Executive Management program.