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Ellen Haddigan

Governing Board Member

Ellen Haddigan has been involved in fundraising, strategic planning, and program development for vital cause-based organizations for over twenty years. In January 2011, she was appointed Executive Director of the Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Prior to joining MSKCC, Ellen worked side-by-side with entrepreneur and social activist Russell Simmons for eleven years to build Rush Communication’s Community Affairs. Rush Community Affairs includes four non-profit organizations founded by Russell (Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, and the Diamond Empowerment Fund), and provides support and advocacy for many non-profit organizations and community projects from NYC to around the world. Ellen served as the Founding Executive Director of the Diamond Empowerment Fund and Executive Director of Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, and now serves as a board member of each organization. She has also served as a personal philanthropic advisor to Russell Simmons and the Simmons family.

A native of Chicago and graduate of DePaul University, Ellen is an adjunct professor at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies. In 2005, she was chosen as one of ten future women leaders in the arts by ArtTable, in 2008 was honored by the NBA Wives Association’s Behind the Bench, and in 2010 was recognized by the Women’s Jewelry Association with a nomination for its Women of Excellence Awards. She has previously served as assistant director of New York’s Drawing Center, and as director of development at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and the Chicago Architecture Foundation. With her partner Musa Durgun, she has developed Garden State Market, a new green market concept store to create greater access to healthy, convenient and affordable food choices aimed at improving the quality of life for individuals seeking a healthy lifestyle (Spring 2011 opening, Englewood, New Jersey, www.gardenstatemarket.com).

The arts and education have been important to Ellen throughout her life and she dreamed of being an artist when she was a child. She firmly believes in the vital role creative thinking and the creative process can play in every young person’s life. She is equally passionate about health and wellness issues, having experienced first hand and through friends and family the threats of cancer, diabetes, obesity, and hypertension that is often times controlled through education and lifestyle.

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