Ella Washington is a workplace strategist and organizational psychologist who leverages her expertise in power dynamics, negotiations, and leadership to help clients navigate complex organizational challenges and foster transformative workplaces. 

Ella is a leadership professor in the Organization and Management area at Emory University Goizueta Business School, where she teaches courses on leadership, executive, and undergraduate programs. She is passionate about elevating humanity in the workplace and empowering leaders to create equitable and inclusive environments. Ella brings extensive academic and professional experience in organizational behavior, change management, power dynamics, and high-stakes decision-making to her work with clients in various sectors, including consulting, finance, government, and nonprofits.

Ella completed her Ph.D. in Management & Organizations at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and holds a B.A. in Psychology from Spelman College. Prior to her current role, she held adjunct professorships at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business, University of Southern California’s Bovard College, American University’s Kogod School of Business, and George Washington University’s School of Business, where she designed and taught courses on leadership, negotiations, HR analytics, and cross-cultural teamwork. In industry, Ella served as Practice Leader for Diversity and Inclusion Consulting and Executive Strengths Coach at Gallup, Talent Management and Strategy Consultant at EY, and Consultant for Diversity and Inclusion at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. As Founder of the Ellavate Charity Foundation, she leads initiatives in workforce development and has distributed over $150,000 in scholarships.

Ella is the author of "Unspoken: A Guide to Cracking the Hidden Corporate Code" (ForbesBooks, 2024), an Amazon bestseller in Business Diversity & Inclusion, Mentoring & Coaching, and Workplace Behavior, and "The Necessary Journey: Making Real Progress on Equity and Inclusion" (Harvard Business Press, 2022). Her research focuses on workplace equity, racioethnic differences, microaggressions, and the experiences of diverse professionals. Her publications include articles in Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior and Psychological Science, and has edited volumes such as "Race, Work, and Leadership: New Perspectives on the Black Experience" (Harvard Business School). She has also authored numerous practitioner articles in Harvard Business Review. Ella has presented at conferences including the Academy of Management, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and Gallup at Work Summit, and received awards such as Poets & Quants’ 40 Under 40 MBA Professors (2023), MSB Teaching Excellence Award (2021), and Gallup All-Star Consultant (2018).