Ellen Malcolm

Ellen R. Malcolm is the founder, a past president, and chair emerita of the board of EMILY's List, an organization dedicated to recruiting pro-choice Democratic women to run for elected office.

Malcolm was born on February 2, 1947, and grew up in Montclair, New Jersey. Her great-grandfather was a founder of IBM, and at age 21, she was heir to a multi-million dollar fortune. She received a Bachelor of Arts in experimental psychology from Hollins College in 1969 and a Masters of Business Administration from George Washington University in 1984.

In the 1970s, Malcolm was an organizer for Common Cause, the public interest lobby, and then served as press secretary for the National Women's Political Caucus. In 1980, she served as press secretary for Esther Peterson, President Jimmy Carter’s special assistant for consumer affairs.

While working on the 1982 U.S. Senate campaign of Harriet Woods, Malcolm learned that no woman had ever been elected to the Senate – only appointed – and determined that this was due to lack of campaign funding. With the goal of using early funds to elect a pro-choice, Democratic woman to the U.S. Senate, Malcolm founded EMILY's List (Early Money Is Like Yeast) in 1985.

In 2003 to 2004, Malcolm helped to create America Coming Together, a nationwide organization dedicated to empowering and mobilizing voters, and served as its president in 2003 and 2004. She also helped create America Votes, a coalition of progressive groups that works to register, educate, and mobilize voters. Malcolm served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton's 2008 election campaign.