Ellie Kiernan is a Senior Associate at Luminary Labs, where she creates actionable, human-centered strategies for clients across sectors. She excels at identifying connective patterns and cultivating shared value among diverse stakeholders. She currently supports the Learning Landscapes Challenge, a $2.2 million effort to design and build future-ready K-12 education environments.

Prior to joining Luminary Labs, Ellie led consulting projects at C Space, tackling the strategy and innovation challenges of Fortune 500 companies and nonprofit organizations. At C Space, she designed and implemented a theory of change to transform Meta’s news platform after the 2016 presidential election and developed infrastructural solutions for gig economy workers at Citizens Bank. Most recently, she supported the New Frontiers innovation team at the Rockefeller Foundation, helping to advance high-impact ideas across the foundation’s science and technology portfolios. She has additional experience as a researcher for Women’s World Banking and as an on-site business consultant for a food system startup in El Salvador. 

Ellie holds a Master of Public Administration in Social Innovation and International Development from New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. At NYU, Ellie received the Jo Ivey Bouffard Award for Innovation and the Female Founders Circle Fellowship award for co-developing a blueprint for a NYC food delivery worker mutual aid cooperative. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Spanish from Hamilton College. Ellie is an avid surfer, a pit bull lover, and a fan of books by Elena Ferrante. She is conversational in Spanish.