We’re excited to announce that Connecticut Voices for Children has chosen Ellen Shemitz, a Connecticut native with wide-ranging experience in child advocacy, policy development, and legislative collaboration, as its new Executive Director.  Ellen brings amazing energy, dedicated advocacy, and a strong intellect to her new role.  We are confident that she will help to improve the public policies that affect the state’s children and families.

A 1987 graduate of the Yale Law School, Ms. Shemitz brings more than 25 years of public and private sector experience advancing social and civil justice through policy development, advocacy, litigation, media campaigns and public engagement.  After graduating from law school and clerking for the Honorable Hugh H. Bownes of the United States Court of Appeals, 1st Circuit, she entered private practice representing children with special needs, helping to clarify the right to compensatory education as lead appellate counsel in a landmark First Circuit case left standing by the US Supreme Court.

From 1999 to 2008, she served as President of the Children’s Alliance of New Hampshire, a sister organization to Connecticut Voices for Children.  She earned the Outstanding Advocate Award from the National Association of School Psychologists in 2003; served as the National Chair of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count Steering Committee in 2006-2007; and founded the New Hampshire Child Advocacy Network, a collaborative association of more than 200 child-serving organizations.

From 2008 through 2012, Attorney Shemitz led the New Hampshire Association for Justice, a professional association working to promote civil justice and constitutional rights.  Most recently she helped to launch the Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership and Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire School of Law, a new initiative committed to advancing social, economic and civil justice through scholarship and leadership training.

We hope that you will be as excited about Ellen’s arrival in Connecticut as we are. We look forward to sharing more with you about Connecticut Voices’ next stage of growth and development!