Ellyn McKay
Director

Ellyn McKay provides organizational development, training and human resources expertise to entrepreneurial companies and nonprofit organizations throughout the Washington, D.C. area and specializes in working with women-owned businesses. With 24 years of experience in human resources issues, including an M.S. in Personnel and Industrial Relations, Ms. McKay provides client companies expertise in strategic planning, recruitment, employee relations, training, facilitation and EEO. Additionally she assists entrepreneurial companies with identifying barriers to growth offering practical expertise to overcome those barriers, including the development of job descriptions, training programs and performance management systems.

Prior to launching her consulting practice, Ms. McKay was the Director of Training for the American Woman's Economic Development Corporation (AWED), the New York-based organization that was the first in the country to provide training and business counseling to aspiring and established women entrepreneurs. She was instrumental in establishing AWED's Washington, D.C. office and consistently exceeded milestones established by the SBA. In this capacity, she developed a variety of short and long-term training programs, recruited and trained volunteer instructors, developed and revised curriculum and worked closely with women entrepreneurs to ensure they were receiving appropriate training and counseling.

Ms. McKay also spent approximately six years with McDonald's Corporation's office of Human Resources as a Recruiter and Supervisor. She established the corporation's first older worker employment program and its first college recruitment program, both of which became national models. In addition, she managed all HR functions for approximately 250 exempt and 2,000 nonexempt employees, including compensation and benefits, employee relations, EEO, sexual harassment issues and investigations, training, and diversity planning and implementation.