Ellen Harnick is the Western Office Director and a Senior Policy Counsel on CRL's State Policy Team. Based in Oakland, California, Ellen leads CRL’s efforts in the Western United States and coordinates state level enforcement strategies. She works with diverse stake-holders, state legislators, and Attorneys General from both parties to curtail lending abuses and advance reasonable consumer protections. At the federal level, Ellen has testified on mortgage and consumer protection matters at congressional hearings on interventions needed to mitigate the impacts of the foreclosure crisis, and maintaining access to responsible credit for low-income families. Prior to covering western states, Ellen led CRL’s policy work in the North Carolina General Assembly.
Before joining CRL, Ellen was a partner in the New York law firm of Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman LLP, where she represented corporate clients. During 2001-2002, she served in the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, focused on developing market economic laws and the transition to democracy. Ellen graduated from Brandeis University and the Georgetown University Law Center.