top of page

hi, I'm ellen!
founder of coralline

I’m a Privacy Engineer in the Bay Area, with 10+ years of

experience.

I have a knack for finding creative solutions to data protection challenges, and leading programs and people.

greatest hits

Coralline, San Francisco, CA                                                      2025 - Present

Founder

Guide organizations across sectors in tackling privacy and data protection challenges.

​

Cruise, San Francisco, CA                                                                     2020 - 2024

Sr. Engineering Manager, Trust, Privacy & Assurance

Built and led the privacy program, encompassing infrastructure, operations, risk and compliance.

​​​

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Washington DC   2014 - 2019

Deputy Manager, Privacy Framework

Created privacy and identity frameworks and standards, and drove privacy for identity management technologies. 

​

Derechos Digitales, Santiago, Chile                                                      2014

Google Policy Fellow

Developed an action plan to engage civil society in cybersecurity and digital rights efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean.

creds & kudos

Board Member, International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) Privacy Engineering Board, 2020 - 2022

 

Co-author, 2020 revision to International Association of Privacy Professionals’ (IAPP) Certified Information Privacy Technologist (CIPT) exam

 

Recipient, Federal Computer Week’s Annual Rising Stars Award, 2019

​​

Chair for US Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to ISO Project Committee (PC) 317 on Privacy by Design, 2019

 

Recipient, Outstanding Contributor, Fast Identity Online (FIDO) Alliance, for white paper on privacy in federated identity systems leveraging FIDO, and active engagement in Privacy and Public Policy Working Group, Jan 2017

education

New York University

Master of Public Administration

Int'l Cybersecurity Mgmt and Policy

  • Recipient, Scholarship for Service.

  • Founding Member and President, Wagner+: organized technical workshops, lectures, and networking events for public administration and engineering students.

  • Policy Competition Co-Founder & Lead, NYU Polytechnic Cybersecurity Awareness Week (CSAW) 2014.

The George Washington University

Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude,

Industrial/Organizational Psychology

  • Minor in Spanish

  • Member, Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity.

publications 

The NIST Privacy Framework: A Tool for Improving Privacy through Enterprise Risk Management, Jan 2020​

 

SP 800-63 Rev 3: Digital Identity Guidelines: Federation and Assertions, Dec 2017

 

Draft SP 800-53 Rev. 5: Security and Privacy Controls for Information Systems and Organizations, Aug 2017

 

NISTIR 8062: An Introduction to Privacy Engineering and Risk Management in Federal Information Systems, Jan 2017

speaking engagements

Guest Lecturer: Carnegie Mellon University, Current Topics in Privacy Seminar, Privacy for Self-Driving Cars, March 2023, Pittsburgh, PA​

 

Panelist: Intelligent Transportation Society (ITS) America Annual Meeting, A Framework for Connected Vehicle Privacy and Cybersecurity, June 2019, Washington, DC

 

Curriculum Developer & Workshop Co-lead: IAPP Privacy. Security. Risk. 2018, Managing Risk for the Internet of Things, October 2018, Austin, TX

 

Speaker: IAPP Global Privacy Summit 2018, Meeting Challenges of Privacy, Security & GDPR Compliance in the Cloud, March 2018, Washington, DC

bottom of page