She is a frequent presenter at national conferences and has published articles in Family Tree Magazine and Avotaynu: The International Journal on Jewish Genealogy. Topics include getting started in Jewish genealogy, methodology, Jewish institutional records, comparing Jewish resources on the genealogy giant websites, Russian Empire research, and Holocaust in Ukraine. Ellen received her BA from Alfred University and spent twenty-five years working in marketing management and communications before transitioning into full-time research. She has completed the ProGen study program and several genealogical institutes, and is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

While accepting clients, Ellen continues to volunteer and is JewishGen USA Research Division Director and DAR Jewish Specialty Research National Vice Chair. In 2022, Ellen launched Shul Records America for JewishGen which is a unique finding aid pointing to the location of synagogue records in over one hundred repositories. She has spent thirty years studying her paternal Jewish origins in Ukraine which are documented back to the mid-1700s prior to the assignment of Jewish surnames. Ellen has organized extensive volunteer town research projects for her ancestral shtetl towns of Lyubar and Chudnov, as well as across the former Volhynia Guberniya, and she has partnered with scholars in five countries on projects about Holocaust in Ukraine and Babyn Yar. Originally from New York and Washington, DC, Ellen resides in Colorado with her Israeli-born husband and is mother to two college students. For more information, visit www.EllenKowitt.com.