Ellen has served the local Church in a variety of leadership capacities for the past seven years. Her various roles have brought together leadership development and outreach, Catholic identity and the operational side of Church life and administration. Prior to moving to the Pittsburgh area in 2014, Ellen had spent over a decade working in a variety of educational leadership and missionary outreach roles in the Church both at home and in the Middle East, including being on the founding leadership team of Mar Qardakh School in Erbil for three years. Ellen has a bachelor’s in educational development, a master’s in religious sciences and will obtain a licentiate in canon law from Catholic University of America in summer 2021.