Ellen Wilcox

Hi, I’m Ellen! I’m an Investor and Head of Listening at Listen Ventures, an early-stage consumer VC backing and building the consumer health/wellness brands of tomorrow. I lead our consumer research and insights Listening Practice — creating direct inroads to real consumers to explore behavior shifts at tipping points in culture/society. I sometimes write about what I find in the field and how it's shaping our investment strategy. Check out our Consumer-Obsessed series on 🍎 Vol 1: Food as Medicine (https://bit.ly/listen-fam) and 🦋 Vol. 2: Mindsets from the Middle (https://bit.ly/listen-mfm). I’ve always been fascinated by people and have dedicated my career to understanding human behavior and designing elegant interventions that help to reconcile the rational economic model and the irrationality of the human mind. I am a proud alumna of IDEO, where I led multidisciplinary teams and built partnerships with clients to design and launch human-centered products, offerings, cultures, experiences, and ventures. I'm known for my ability to fluidly move between disciplines—both creative and analytical, strategic and visual—and my knack for drawing unexpected connections. After an early career in management consulting, I received my MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and an MS in Design Innovation from the McCormick School of Engineering. I am the humbled recipient of the Design and Innovation Scholar Award for excellence in the pursuit and promotion of human-centered design and consistently high levels of imagination and insight. A liberal arts kid at heart, I also hold a bachelor’s degree in Economics and English from Georgetown University. When not on Zoom, you'll likely find me playing competitive rec-league soccer, getting sucked into a new book or a great conversation, or designing custom swag for friends and family.