Ellen Isaacs

Ellen Isaacs has led or supported efforts to expedite transportation improvements in Los Angeles for the past eight years. At LA County Metro, she was the Director of LA Government Relations, working with 15 City Council District offices, the Mayor’s Office, and various City departments to provide briefings, facilitate outreach to community stakeholders, obtain permits and approvals for Metro construction projects, research policy recommendations, and address a wide variety of issues from Council offices including use of Metro right-of-way, bus routing, and construction impacts on small businesses.

As Transportation Deputy to then-Assemblymember Mike Feuer, Ellen worked with community and local government officials to address construction-related issues on the 405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project, planning for the next phase of construction for the Purple Line Subway, and the Expo Line. She helped support the successful effort to educate the public about Measure R, the ½ cent sales tax to build specified transportation projects over 30 years; the measure passed with 67% of voters’ approval.

Ellen co-directed an initiative to bring cross-disciplinary UCLA resources to underserved communities through after school programs for students and teacher training and development. While an active attorney, she led a project at Public Counsel, the public interest law office of the LA County and Beverly Hills Bar Associations to assist community-based nonprofits to build affordable housing in their neighborhoods with free legal, accounting and architectural services. Ellen was in charge of all services for technical officials in 23 sports at the 1984 Olympics, and was part of a press relations team for Olympic Cycling events. She and her husband have two boys and reside in Los Angeles.