Boards: CAIS (Capital Integration Systems, LLC), Rallypoint, Walker & Dunlop.

Ellen Levy is managing director of Silicon Valley Connect, working with organizations and entrepreneurs on opportunities for technology-driven innovation while also managing a portfolio of 60-plus start-ups as an angel investor and advisor. She is a member of the boards of directors at Walker & Dunlop, a commercial real estate finance company; Rallypoint, a social network for military and veterans company; and CIAS, a financial technology platform for alternative assets company. Prior board roles include educational technology company Instructure and financial services company Aumni (acquired by JPMorgan). She is a senior advisor to the president at Arizona State University, which has been named the “most innovative” university by U.S. News & World Report for nine years in a row. 

Ellen spent nearly a decade working with LinkedIn, including heading up corporate development and strategy; she was also a member of the executive team following her original role as advisory board member at the company’s founding. Over her career, Ellen has held formal roles in venture capital (Softbank, NeoCarta, and DFJ); start-ups (WhoWhere, bought by Lycos; Softbook Press, bought by Gemstar TVGuide; and LinkedIn, initial public offering and then bought by Microsoft); a technology think tank (Interval Research); large corporations (Apple and PricewaterhouseCoopers); and universities (Harvard, Stanford, and Arizona State University). 

Described as the “most connected woman in Silicon Valley" by Fast Company, she has been named one of the top female early-stage investors for three years in a row. Ellen now spends much of her time focusing on dynamic, rapidly growing start-ups on issues related to the future of work (automation, AI, skills training, and education) and financial services and working with businesses helping society respond to the post-pandemic world. She has a bachelor of science from the University of Michigan and master of arts and doctor of philosophy degrees in cognitive psychology from Stanford University.