About Ellen

Ellen Orr was born and raised in Texarkana, Texas. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Creative Writing from Centenary College, located in Shreveport, Louisiana. Immediately upon graduation, she accepted a position teaching computer science to students ages 5 to 13. In this role, she redesigned the computer science program based on developmentally appropriate practice. In 2017, she relocated to Toronto, Ontario, to pursue a Master of Education degree in Developmental Psychology and Education. Within that degree, she focused on disability studies and feminist pedagogy. In 2019, she was hired as the Education Director of a mid-sized tutoring company in Toronto. In her first ten months, enrollment increased 31%, primarily through referrals. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, she converted the centre’s in-person programs to virtual offerings and established project-based courses for existing and new students. In July of 2020, she launched Project: Learn On, a service project with two primary intentions—1) to offer high-quality virtual educational experiences for students, regardless of financial status, and 2) to direct funds to the Blackstone Foundation Library, Canada's leading Afrocentric nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting knowledge of self through a culture of learning and reading.