Educator, community builder, and lifelong lover of mathematics.

Ellen is passionate about building vibrant educational communities that foster curiosity, creativity, connection, and joy. She believes education is about far more than knowledge alone — it is about helping students build confidence, develop resilience, think deeply, and experience the excitement of solving hard problems together.

Her love of creative problem solving began as a student reading Art of Problem Solving textbooks, attending the Los Angeles Math Circle, and competing in mathematics contests. She went on to study mathematics at UC Berkeley, where she served as president of the Women in Mathematics organization, helping foster a supportive and inclusive community for aspiring mathematicians.

After graduating, Ellen joined Art of Problem Solving (AoPS), the global leader in advanced math education. She helped launch its first Bay Area campus and went on to lead five in-person AoPS centers — across Irvine, San Diego, Pleasanton, Fremont, and Santa Clara, California — before stepping into organization-wide leadership as Director of the AoPS Virtual Campus, where she oversaw a program serving over 10,000 students, and later as Director of Engagement and Growth. During this time, AoPS programs expanded to reach over one million learners worldwide and served as the primary training ground for every member of the United States International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) team.

For nearly a decade, Ellen also taught and led math circles at UCLA, Berkeley, and Stanford, introducing students to advanced mathematical concepts through collaboration, exploration, and joyful problem solving. She helped organize major mathematics competitions and events, including the Bay Area Mathematical Olympiad (BAMO) and international Women in STEM panels.

Ellen also works with the African Olympiad Academy, supporting olympiad programs, camps, teacher development, and talent identification and student selection across Africa — in countries where access to these opportunities is still emerging and exceptional mathematical talent is waiting to be nurtured.

Today, through Joyful Math Worldwide, Ellen focuses on what she knows best: training K–12 students (ages 5–18) and their teachers in joyful advanced mathematics, helping in-person math schools and learning centers grow, and volunteering on the ground to bring joyful math to places where access is limited.