Ellen Clear is the California Communities director at The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. She leads and supports a grantmaking team focused on promoting housing stability, healthy environments, and community vitality in six California counties and with statewide impact.
During her more than 25 years in community-focused philanthropy and her own volunteer time, Ellen has worked to support innovative community-based organizations and leaders, to strengthen social safety nets, and engaged in civic life in her home community and beyond. Prior to joining the Foundation, she led grantmaking teams at two area community foundations, learned finance during a stint in investment banking, and began her career as a newspaper reporter.
Ellen holds a Bachelor of Arts in political economy from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School.