Ellen is a mission focused deep tech investor with a particular focus on the maritime and space domains. She is Managing Director, CapZone Impact Investments, a specialty investment fund where Opportunity Zones meets the National Interest, and is also a Senior Advisor to BMNT, a defense innovation consultancy that works with the DoD.

Ellen started her career as an officer in the U.S. Navy where she served as an intelligence officer. She later joined JP Morgan where, as a banker, she worked with the aerospace team, and, for a short period, in a pilot group that facilitated investing in start-ups. Amidst the dot-com era, Ellen founded a start-up in the aviation industry where the team focused on building a B2B aviation part sourcing and brokerage focused on business jets. On the heels of the dot-com-bust, Ellen was recalled into the Navy to support Desert Storm II. Following this recall, she jointed Northrop Grumman. During her 12 years at Northrop Grumman, she held positions as a systems engineer, then program manager then director of an advanced systems division. Her work included design and development of autonomous systems ranging from the Global Hawk to the Unmanned Carrier-based unmanned aerial system to concepts integrating space and air platforms.

Ellen holds a BA in history from the University of Pennsylvania, an MS in systems engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School, and an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School. Ellen loves to run, taste wine, and travel. She is also co-founder of Wharton Aerospace and runs the innovation-ventures focused Wharton Aerospace Ventures.