As General Manager of Childsplay, Ellen Conn supports operational structures, mentorship, and creative business development across the organization. Her extensive relationships and diverse skills enhance collaboration and shared leadership toward achieving Childsplay’s mission to ignite imagination, wonder, and joy by creating strikingly original theatre and learning experiences that inspire young minds to explore and soar. After more than 15 years of experience with Childsplay, Conn is deeply invested in the notion that every young person deserves to see themself in the stories that are told and in an abundant world of possibilities.

Conn’s Fellowship will concentrate on leadership and team building for a new generation as she seeks to strengthen Childsplay’s staff in a drastically changed job market. She will also explore proven principles of innovative risk-taking in program development with an intensive focus on the patron experience. She plans to attend Stanford’s Executive Program in Women’s Leadership, the Disney Institute’s Employee Engagement and Customer Service Workshops, and the Innovation and Strategy Program at Harvard University.