Ellen Brown is Director of Strategic Initiatives for the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, where she focuses on the economic dimensions of social justice and ensuring that urban areas and urban residents benefit from local and regional economic activity. Ms. Brown specializes in development finance and the elimination of disparities in access to financial services, particularly for urban communities, minorities and immigrants; small, minority and micro business development; increasing living wage employment opportunities and career growth for urban residents; and regional economic development. At the Institute, she works to maximize the economic development potential offered by growing industry sectors in the greater Newark metropolitan region. She is also responsible for institutional operations, communications and administration. Prior to joining the Institute, Ms. Brown worked for the Ford Foundation in New York and in Johannesburg, South Africa. Ms. Brown was also an investment manager in corporate finance for the Prudential Insurance Company of America. She holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University.