Board Advisor

For over 30 years, Ellen Lapham has set high goals, first as an industrial designer, then as an entrepreneur and venture investor, and as a turnaround CEO for growth-stage technology companies. She also climbs mountains and was among the first American women to attempt Mount Everest.

As one of the early women industrial designers Ellen directed human factors research on women-centered products and pioneered the use of CAD/CAM for consumer products. She has been applying technology and critical thinking to everyday things ever since.

Ellen’s career experience ranges from General Electric, where she learned the value of being and staying ahead in a big market space; to the last decade’s dot-coms where she applied a focus on customers, operating disciplines, and sustainable revenues.

Drawn to innovation - that point where a major shift occurs in an industry - she has worked as an executive with firms leading the change - Tandem (modular architectures), Nestar (mixed processor networks) and Syntauri (digital music systems, which she founded). In their nascent stages, she promoted Apple microcomputers, Unix, optical interconnects, and B2B services for the shipping industry. She successfully took on turnaround challenges with TeleSensory Systems, Award Software, the Institute for Research on Learning, and Searchbutton Inc.

However, Ellen counts her work encouraging, mentoring, and investing in high tech women entrepreneurs as a highlight of her life. She served as the Northern California lead judge for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.

Ellen has focused on two major themes for her community work: the environment and the status of women. She chaired the board of the Trust for Hidden Villa and is active in mountaineering organizations. She is a member of the International Women’s Forum and the Committee of 200, is a Director of the American Alpine Club, and recently joined Snowlands Network, a winter recreation advocacy organization, as President.

She has an MBA from Stanford with a concentration in finance and Bach. Industrial Design from Syracuse.

For relaxation, Ellen mountain bikes, skis, renovates houses, reads to her granddaughter, has skied across Ellesmere’s ice cap and soloed in Alaska’s Brooks Range.

In support of ABI’s mission: Ellen chaired the 2004 and 2006 the Anita Borg Social Impact Award which is awarded at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing.