Ellis Ballard is Director of the Social System Design Lab. His body of work focuses on partnering with research & community partners on the use of participatory systems science & design methods to develop community-driven strategies, and on leading methodological innovation on the use of these tools. He is the specialization chair for the Brown School’s System Dynamics Specialization and teaches courses in Community Based System Dynamics, System Dynamics Simulation for Strategic Design, and SD advanced methods Skill Labs.
In addition to his work at the Brown School, Ellis is a Founding Partner at Tributary Design, a strategic design partnership that works with community organizations, health systems, and researchers apply system dynamics modeling to examine complex problems and human-centered design to translate insights into action.
Prior to joining the SSDL, Ellis worked in disability rights advocacy and research. He advanced disability rights advocacy in U.S foreign affairs and contributed to capacity building efforts and program evaluations with community-based organizations and disabled people’s organizations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Ellis has a Masters of Social Work and a Masters of Public Health from the Brown School at Washington University and a Bachelor’s degree in English and History from Oberlin College in Ohio. In his free time he is an active cyclist and a budding gardener.