Ellen Ryan specializes in interviews. Roughly half of her published work has been profiles, Q&As, and as-told-to’s. Interviewing skills are also the basis for feature articles in small business, consumer health, education, and career change—and content deliverables such as case studies, white papers, and brochures.

Publications range from the Washington Post and USNews.com to USA Today Guide to Kids’ Health, Good Housekeeping, and several AARP outlets. Having spent half her career on association staffs, Ellen has also written for magazines ranging from Independent Banker (ICBA) and Currents (CASE) to Scrap (ISRI) and The College Store (NACS) plus nearly 20 alumni magazines.

Because readers live in the real world. Ellen always tries to invest her writing with real-world touches, no matter the subject—such as references to hit TV shows, memes, well-known athletes, and topical in-jokes among readers.

On the side(?), Ellen is a crack copyeditor in AP style. Longtime clients include national associations and a global law firm.

 

 

info Subjects

General

Business & Finance
Education
Health & Medicine

Specialties

Profiles, small business, retail, consumer health, campus fundraising, community colleges, workforce development, career change, modern board games

notepad Skills

  • Advertorials
  • Case studies
  • Donor communications
  • Editing
  • Feature writing
  • Ghostwriting
  • Profiles
  • Q&A
  • White papers
  • Content marketing

notepad Writing Credits

Newsstand/content: Washington Post, several AARP outlets, USNews.com, USA Today Guide to Kids’ Health, Good Housekeeping, Costco Connection, ForbesLife Executive Woman, Sister2Sister, many more.
Associations/nonprofits: Independent Banker, The College Store, Scrap, Currents, Physician, Education Update, Planning, Convene, Finseca Focus, Cardiovascular Physician, ~20 alumni mags, many more.

star Awards, Honors, Appointments

Co-nominated for National Magazine Award: Washingtonian cover section, “Getting Ahead.” City and Regional Magazine Association national bronze award, Community Service: Washingtonian, “Washingtonians of the Year.” Other awards from Society of National Association Publishers; Educational Press Association of America; Latino Student Fund; ASJA.

Selected Work

As author, unless indicated otherwise.

The Kids Are All Right

Profile of Ariel White, MD, young enough to speak teenager and old enough to lead major changes in student health at Washington, DC’s American University — in treating eating disorders, offering new contraceptives, and instituting trauma-informed care protocols. 

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Perspectives on Trust in Business: Chief Legal Officers & Institutional Investors

"In-house counsel see public trust from inside the corporation. Institutional investors see it from outside, albeit with more influence than the public at large. ... To learn about these inside and outside perspectives and about global differences, the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) partnered with Edelman to develop the Perspectives on Trust in Business report."

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To ER or Not to ER? Medical experts answer the ultimate question for common household mishaps

Can you patch up the injury at home, or do you need to go to urgent care or call 911? Experts weigh in on several situations.

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Good Medicine

How and why one university bookstore helps serve student and staff health needs with an in-store pharmacy.

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Merry Crisis and Happy Blue Year: If the holidays make you want to blow your brains out, just hop on the phone. Some nice people in Arlington are waiting to talk to you.

The article I'm most proud of. A crisis hotline over the holidays and the work it does overall, mostly with trained volunteers. I went through training, then embedded over Christmas.

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Mentoring Female Leaders

Ghostwritten Q&A with two women in business about the benefits of mentoring for women in the financial security field.

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Mission and Values: More than just words

A CEO explains to readers in his industry how he and his company prepared for losses during the pandemic, then recovered with a focus on purpose and mission.

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On the Books

A roundtable discussion -- among authors, a librarian, a cartoonist, and a First Amendment scholar -- about the new wave of American censorship.

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Effective Philanthropy for Half of Humanity

Nonprofits serving women and girls survive on a pittance, so donations have an outsized impact. Why and where you might make a difference for others.

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