Board Advisory
Governance-Ready Leadership Grounded in Operating Experience
Twenty years of Fortune 50 P&L ownership, enterprise transformation, and fiduciary oversight - translated into the strategic judgment, financial fluency, and independent perspective that effective boards require.
The most effective directors are not career board members. They are operating executives who bring pattern recognition from managing complexity at scale - and the discipline to govern without managing.
Dr. Ellington’s governance perspective is built on two decades of enterprise operating leadership spanning Elevance Health, Capital One, Walmart, General Motors, and Ford - with direct P&L responsibility exceeding $11 billion. His career has been defined by the intersection of financial stewardship, organizational transformation, and technology-driven strategy that boards must now oversee.
As Chief Operating Officer of a 135-year-old trade association, he directs operations, financial governance, and strategic planning while serving as principal advisor to the CEO and Board of Directors. He restructured board reporting and executive committee processes to strengthen fiduciary oversight and strategic decision-making. At Elevance Health, he presented strategic recommendations to board-level governance committees influencing capital allocation and enterprise growth priorities. At Capital One, he prepared executive briefings and board-level technology updates as Chief of Staff to the CIO.
He holds a PhD in Management from the University of Maryland, an MPA from the University of Pennsylvania, an MS in Management and Systems Engineering from MIT Sloan, and an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. He is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) and is pursuing the NACD Directorship Certification. He is a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and an ICF Professional Certified Coach.
Areas of Expertise
Board-Level Competencies
Financial Oversight & Audit
P&L ownership exceeding $11B across Fortune 50 enterprises. Deep fluency in financial statement analysis, revenue concentration risk, reserve adequacy, and the gap between GAAP compliance and strategic financial health. Designed board financial reporting frameworks that shifted governance conversations from compliance to strategy.
Digital Transformation & AI Governance
Deployed machine learning and predictive analytics at enterprise scale - including AI-powered workforce simulators, market sizing models, and collective bargaining intelligence tools. Built analytics practices from zero to operational. Understands both the strategic potential and the governance risks of AI adoption at the board level.
Operational Excellence & Risk
Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt who established a Process Improvement Center of Excellence, trained 300+ professionals, and delivered $300M+ in operational improvements. Brings a systems-level view of enterprise risk - identifying the structural vulnerabilities that operating metrics alone do not reveal.
Human Capital & Compensation
Directed HR operations, led organizational redesign across multi-stakeholder environments, and designed workforce development programs. ICF Professional Certified Coach with a PhD focus on management and organizational behavior - equipped to evaluate executive performance, succession planning, and compensation alignment.
Strategic Planning & M&A
Led M&A due diligence and post-acquisition integration at Capital One. Directed enterprise transformation and growth strategy at Elevance Health. Founded, scaled, and executed the sale of a management consulting firm. Brings both the analytical rigor and the operating instinct required to evaluate strategic direction and capital allocation.
Stakeholder & Member Governance
Serves as principal advisor to a 300+ member trade association board, managing the governance complexity of multi-stakeholder organizations where competing interests must be aligned around shared strategic priorities. Experienced in restructuring governance processes, committee workflows, and board communication.
Committee Alignment
Where This Experience Applies
Audit & Finance Committee
$11B+ P&L experience. Financial statement analysis. Revenue concentration and reserve assessment. Board financial reporting redesign.
Technology & Innovation Committee
Enterprise AI deployment. ML/predictive analytics at scale. Digital transformation strategy. CIO advisory and technology governance.
Compensation & Human Capital Committee
Executive coaching certification (ICF PCC). Organizational design expertise. Workforce development. Succession planning and talent strategy.
Risk & Governance Committee
NACD Member. Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Enterprise risk and process improvement. Governance restructuring. Multi-stakeholder alignment.