Ellen Roche

Executive Director, Trust for Learning

Washington, D.C.

Ellen joined Trust for Learning in 2018 after graduating from a Montessori preschool and with many years of experience with schools, nonprofits, and foundations since.

Prior to recent leadership roles at two strategy firms, Ellen taught music, English, and humanities to children and teenagers and discovered a passion for civic ed and the history of progressive schools while earning a master’s in education. She has been lucky to teach and develop curricula across ages, settings, and approaches and is fascinated by the dynamic relationships between American schools, democracy, and culture.

Outside of schools, she has developed and led workshops around the country on racial equity, political storytelling, progressive education history, and the hidden literature of American women. Over eight years as a strategist and researcher for various progressive efforts, she became more and more oriented toward root-cause problems and structural solutions, most recently supporting a midterm voter turnout campaign and the launch of a national racial equity platform: Racial Equity Here. Ellen serves as an advisory board member for New Haven ChILD and is grateful to participate in the racial equity committee of the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative. She also serves as a volunteer research assistant in Dr. Rachel Barr’s Early Learning Project lab at Georgetown University, where she is thrilled to be immersed in the science of early learning. Outside of work, Ellen participates in racial justice, mindfulness, democracy-building and environmental efforts, and has recently taken up birdwatching in the beautiful forests of D.C.