Ellen Levy

Ellen is Managing Director of Silicon Valley Connect, working with organizations and entrepreneurs on opportunities for “networked innovation.” Additionally, she actively manages a portfolio of roughly 50 startups either as an angel investor or advisory board member. Ellen spent much of the last decade working with LinkedIn, including having served as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, head of Corporate & Business Development and member of the Executive Team, and her original role as Advisory Board member when the company was first founded.

Prior to LinkedIn, Ellen spent two years running a groundbreaking program at Stanford University, facilitating collaborationbetween industry partners, Silicon Valley, and the University research community by championing questions having to do with people, technology & innovation. Over her career, Ellen has held formal roles in venture capital (Softbank Venture Capital; NeoCarta Ventures; Draper Fisher Jurvetson), startups (WhoWhere, sold to Lycos; Softbook Press, sold to Gemstar; LinkedIn, LNKD), technology think tanks (Interval Research), large corporations (Apple Computer, AAPL; PriceWaterhouse Coopers), and universities (Harvard University; Stanford University).

Referred to as the “Most Connected Woman in Silicon Valley” by Fast Company, and named one of the “Most Connected Women in America” by Marie Claire, Ellen now focuses much of her time on the dynamics of social networks within “the enterprise”, social media and the consumer Internet, innovation ecosystems and supporting organizational models.

She has a BA from the University of Michigan, and MA/PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Stanford University.