Elisa Mandell Keller is the principal of EMK Strategic Consulting, a firm that provides strategic guidance and analysis to for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Prior to that Elisa worked at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for 13 years, most recently as the director and chief of staff to Mark Suzman, the foundation’s then-Chief Strategy Officer and President of Global Policy & Advocacy. In this role she served as his right-hand advisor as he led two divisions overseeing 314 staff, and she managed a team of 18 who supported these divisions and managed the travel and time prioritization for Bill and Melinda Gates.
Also at the Gates Foundation she served as the deputy director for strategy, planning and management for the Agricultural Development team where she led strategy, budgeting, operations coordination, and measurement & evaluation. During her tenure, the team’s annual budget grew to $440M. Prior to this role she was the chief of staff to the president of the Gates Foundation’s Global Development Program as it grew from less than 20 to more than 160 employees.
Before joining the foundation Elisa was a consultant with PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health), helping to develop a social equity fund to invest in health technologies relevant to the developing world. Prior to that she worked as a teacher in the rural village of Oshikuku, Namibia where she taught English, Math and Computer Skills to high school students. There she engaged in broader development efforts including raising $16,000 to help distribute 1400 mosquito nets to the community’s schools to prevent malaria.
Elisa worked in New York City on education reform for Chancellor Joel Klein under Mayor Bloomberg’s leadership. There she focused on governance and management reform, educational policy, and state regulatory issues. Elisa also served as the first Director of Development and Performance Evaluation for New Leaders for New Schools, a national nonprofit organization that recruits and trains leaders for urban schools.
Elisa began her career at McKinsey & Company in Seattle, working on healthcare and biotechnology, retail, and U.S. and international education. She graduated from Northwestern University with a B.S. in Education and Social Policy, with a focus on organizational development. A King County native, Elisa has served on the boards of Global Health Labs, Town Hall Seattle, and City Year Seattle/King County.
