Ellen Collins is director of the SPARK MS initiative for the Children’s Defense Fund – Southern Regional Office. Standing for “Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids,” SPARK seeks to permanently improve the systems that affect children’s learning. In her role, Ellen oversees community partnerships in multiple school districts across the state of Mississippi while advocating and building support for early education in general.

Ellen began her career in Mississippi as an assistant teacher in the public school system, but spent ten years in Chicago designing programs and delivering services to young children and families at various community-based organizations, including the Jane Addams Hull House Association. Ellen also served as a Senior Program Officer for the Chicago-based McCormick Tribune Foundation (now the McCormick Foundation) where she managed the public policy and public awareness early care and education grants portfolio. Prior to joining the Children’s Defense Fund-Southern Regional Office in September 2009, Ellen served as director of programs for the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson where she managed the foundations many scholarship and grant making funds.

Ellen, a native of Starkville, Mississippi, holds a bachelor’s of arts in sociology from Mississippi Valley State University; a master’s of science in education from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and an infant specialist certification from the Erikson Institute of Chicago.