Ellen Dorsey has 25 years experience promoting international human rights, particularly economic and social rights, and advocating for environmental sustainability. Dorsey is the executive director of the Wallace Global Fund, a private foundation located in Washington, DC, that focuses on environmental sustainability, corporate accountability, women’s human rights, criminal justice, media reform and civic participation. She was a catalyst in the coalition of 17 foundations known as Divest-Invest Philanthropy.
Dorsey came to the Fund from The Heinz Endowments in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, serving as senior program officer for the environment program. She has served on the board of numerous non-profit organizations promoting human rights and sustainable development, including serving as chair of the board of Amnesty International USA.
Dorsey has a doctorate in political science from the University of Pittsburgh, was selected as a Fulbright Research Fellow in South Africa and has served on the faculty of several universities. She has lectured and written extensively on effective strategies of non-governmental organizations and social movements. Most recently, Dorsey is co-author, with Paul J. Nelson, of New Rights Advocacy: Changing Strategies of Development and Human Rights NGOs, published in 2008.
