About Ellen DeVoe
Ellen DeVoe's career reflects a lifelong commitment to education, leadership, and human development. With deep roots in academia, organizational leadership, and athletics, she now brings this rich experience to coaching—helping others navigate their professional and personal journeys.
Throughout her career, Ellen has worked at the intersection of education, organizational leadership, and personal growth—understanding firsthand the challenges and opportunities that come with professional advancement, career transitions, and authentic self-advocacy.
Professional Photo
As a professor at Boston University's School of Social Work, Ellen brought her academic expertise and real-world experience to the next generation of social work professionals. Her teaching focused on leadership, organizational dynamics, and the human elements of social change.
In the classroom and beyond, Ellen modeled the importance of continuous learning, ethical leadership, and using professional authority to advocate for meaningful change in organizations and communities.
In her role as Dean of Academic Affairs, Ellen led complex initiatives in curriculum development, faculty leadership, and institutional strategy. This experience taught her firsthand about organizational culture, stakeholder navigation, and the courage required to lead change in traditional institutions.
As a dean, Ellen worked with faculty, administration, and external stakeholders to drive institutional excellence while maintaining human-centered values. This experience deeply informs her coaching work with professionals navigating leadership roles and organizational politics.
As a Division 1 college athlete, Ellen learned firsthand about discipline, resilience, high performance, and what it takes to succeed at elite levels. These experiences shaped her understanding of goal-setting, managing pressure, and maintaining identity beyond professional achievements.
Her athletic background gives her unique insight into helping clients balance ambition with wellbeing, perform under pressure, and build careers that align with their deepest values—not just external measures of success.
Beyond her professional roles, Ellen is a mother of three young adults. This experience has deepened her empathy for the challenges young professionals face as they launch careers, make major life decisions, and navigate the complex terrain of early adulthood.
Parenting through major life stages has reinforced Ellen's belief in the importance of authentic conversation, active listening, and supporting people in discovering their own answers rather than imposing solutions.
Real leadership isn't about titles or authority. It's about integrity, clarity of purpose, and the courage to make decisions aligned with your values—even when they're difficult.
Excellence comes from clarity about what matters most to you, not from chasing external validation or climbing ladders that don't lead where you actually want to go.
Meaningful change—whether personal or organizational—happens when people understand their own agency and feel supported in making authentic choices about their lives.
Everyone benefits from having someone in their corner—someone who listens deeply, asks powerful questions, and believes in their potential to create the life they want.
After decades in academia and organizational leadership, Ellen discovered her deepest satisfaction came from helping individuals think clearly about their careers and lives. She realized that most people—especially women and LGBTQ youth—never get adequate support in asking the fundamental questions: "What do I actually want? What are my values? What would it look like to build a career and life truly aligned with who I am?"
Ellen's coaching draws on her academic training, her leadership experience in complex organizations, her own journey navigating multiple roles and identities, and her deep commitment to human flourishing. She combines research-based coaching approaches with genuine listening and a belief that every person has the wisdom and capability to author their own story.
Today, Ellen works with academics, emerging professionals, women in transition, and LGBTQ youth who are ready to move from "should" to "choose"—who want to build careers and lives of genuine meaning and alignment.
Ellen invites you to explore coaching in a free 15-minute consultation. Come with your questions—or just curiosity.