Ellen Goodman Speaker Biography

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Columnist, Author, Speaker & Influential Commentator

Ellen Goodman has spent most of her life chronicling social change and its impact on American life. As a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist she was one of the first women to open up the op-ed pages to women’s voices and became, according to Media Watch, the most widely syndicated progressive columnist in the country. She continues that from her observation post now as a writer, speaker and commentator.

The Conversation Project

Today she continues that work from her observation post as a writer, speaker, commentator and nonprofit leader. At the heart of Ellen’s her work is The Conversation Project, a public health campaign and a movement, that works to change the way people talk about, and prepare for their end-of-life care.

End-of-Life Care

Ellen tells the story of serving as her mother’s caregiver with honesty and humor, delivering her mission and spreading the value of having “The Conversation” at conferences, lectures and workshops nationwide.

Social Entrepreneur

She currently serves as a Prime Mover and an Ashoka fellow, for her work as a social entrepreneur offering innovative approaches to solving long-standing social problems. She’s also had a seat on the board of Encore.org for more than five years, helping people use their passions, skills and decades of experience to make a difference in our communities and the world.

Writing Career

Ellen began her career as a researcher for Newsweek magazine in the days when only men wrote for the newsweekly. She landed a job as a reporter for the Detroit Free Press in 1965 and, in 1967, for The Boston Globe where she began writing her column in 1974 which was syndicated by the Washington Post Writers Group two years later. She wrote her twice-weekly column until 2010 when she left with a column about the virtues of “letting myself go.”

Media

Ellen is also called upon as an expert on national panels, and on news outlets from broadcast to radio to on-line journalism. She’s been featured on ABC’s World News with Diane Sawyer, Greater Boston with Emily Rooney, NPR’s Morning Edition and Here & Now, PBS NewsHour, TIME magazine.com, USA Today, the Washington Post, Woman’s Day and many others.

Awards

She’s a seven time author and in 1980, won the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Commentary. Ellen is also the recipient of many other honors for her work in the field, including the American Society of Newspaper Editors Distinguished Writing Award and the Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. She was honored with the President’s Award by the National Women’s Political Caucus and was also presented the American Woman Award by the Women’s Research & Education Institute. In 2008, she won the Ernie Pyle Award for Lifetime Achievement from the National Society of Newspaper columnists.

Education

A 1963 cum laude graduate of Radcliffe College, Goodman returned to Harvard in 1973-74 as a Nieman Fellow, where she studied the dynamics of social change, and again in 2007 as a Shorenstein Fellow.

Ellen has a daughter, stepdaughter, two grandchildren and lives with her husband, Robert Levey in Boston.

Ellen Goodman Speaking Topics

A New Vision for Women

The year 2020 marked two momentous landmarks in the experience of American women: the 100th anniversary of woman’s right to vote, and a presidential election that is likely to hang on the use of that vote. Goodman will celebrate and connect both of these events in an engaging and memorable talk dedicated to passing the torch to a young and diverse generation.

A Civil Tongue

Longtime journalist, Ellen traces how civility was shattered, who is winning and who is losing in the media mud wrestling. She shows how incivility is tearing us apart and how to call a truce.

The Longevity Revolution: Our Third Act

The generation of social change agents is now embarked on something new: the Longevity Revolution. The new elders are turning 65 at the rate of 10,000 a day. Ellen asks: How will these new seniors find meaning in their Third Act? How does this generation rewrite the script on senior citizenship for themselves and the country?

Feminism 2.0

We have seen a generation of change in women’s lives. Ellen has been there, done that and talks about: How far have we come? Where are we stuck? What’s next?

Have You Had The Conversation?

A full 90 percent of Americans believe that it’s important to talk about their wishes for end of life care, how they really want to live to the end of their lives. Yet only 30 percent have actually had this conversation. As founder of The Conversation Project and a daughter who lived this story, Ellen makes this a rich and comfortable subject.