Ellen Greer

• Class of 2011

• Roots of GU experience: Davis Center (On/offstage and the Scene Shop), TPST Classes, Mask & Bauble, Nomadic, Children’s Theater, Improv
• What did you study as an undergraduate? I was a Culture & Politics major in the School of Foreign Service, focusing on Women’s Studies and International Development.
• What experience in the Davis Center was most transformative for you? Ted Parker’s Intro to Technical Theater was my “gateway drug.” It introduced me to the Theater Community at GU, which became central to my time in college. Ted was a wonderful teacher: fearless and gruff and empowering, with a wicked sense of humor. He taught me carpentry, welding, how to work in the scene shop, how to lead crews of my peers in building toward a goal together (literally) – all of this boosted my confidence and sense of belonging. I could not be more grateful for Ted and for that class. It inspired me to work hard for the community as a Producer, Master Carpenter, or Technical Director on nearly every production that took place in the following 3.5 years at GU.
• How have you carried the Davis Center’s ethos of creating new work and collaborations? I wrote the vision, constitution, and roadmap for the LGBTQ employee group at my large multinational company, which I currently serve as Executive Chair. My company has 6000 employees and the employee group had no org or leadership structure until I set it down on paper a year ago. Outside work, I have delivered free community workshops on job hunting and salary negotiations that have now served a cumulative audience of over 200 women and people of color in technology.
• What’s the Davis Center’s lasting impact on your current values and work? Davis Center really taught me leadership: be inclusive, be positive, recognize success, be curious, protect people from danger, plan well (not too much or too little), be personally involved, don’t rush or you’ll make mistakes, and Ted’s famous phrase: “measure twice and cut once.”