Ellen Taaffe is a leadership coach, Kellogg Professor, former Fortune 500 executive, TEDx speaker, and award-winning author of, The Mirrored Door: Break Through the Hidden Barrier that Locks Successful Women in Place, addressing the internal barriers and workplace cultures that hold women back. Connecting insightful research with engaging stories from her own career and those of her students, she informs women how to take charge of their careers.
Taaffe is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Kellogg School of Management, where she teaches Personal Leadership Insights and is the Director of Women's Leadership Program. She designs and delivers the Kellogg Women's Leadership Seminar series, the signature program for female students across Kellogg's Full-time, Evening/Weekend, and Executive MBA programs. She is a featured speaker and executive leadership coach in Kellogg's Executive Education programs on Leadership and Governance and in MBA Leadership courses and programs.
Outside of Kellogg, Ellen serves as an independent board director for two public and one private company boards, where she is a Lead Director, Vice Chair, chairs two Nominating and Governance Committees and one Compensation Committee, and serves as a member of two audit committees. She is a Certified Board Director and Board Leadership Fellow with the National Association of Corporate Directors. Ellen runs a leadership advisory consulting, speaking, and coaching business and is a TEDx speaker. She shares her insights on leadership, governance, careers, and advancing women and inclusion through her writing and speaking in corporations, conferences, and universities and in media like Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Business Insider, Washington Post, Kellogg Insight, and WGN radio.
Prior to her academic, governance, and coaching career, Ellen spent 25 years with Fortune 500 companies holding the top brand management post at divisions of PepsiCo, Royal Caribbean, and Whirlpool Corporation.
