Kathryn A. Ellis is the Senior Counsel to the Deputy General Counsel for Program Service and the Agency's Dispute Resolution Specialist under the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act. In this position, she assists the Deputy General Counsel with legal matters that arise with the Deputyship, including providing legal advice for educational equity, and elementary and secondary education programs. She also is responsible for overseeing the Department's implementation of the ADR Act and the Department's ADR policy. Ms. Ellis provides legal advice on information quality and international issues as they relate to Department programs and activities. From 1996-2000, Ms. Ellis was the Deputy Assistant General Counsel for the Business & Administrative Law Division, where she provided and supervised the provision of nationwide legal advice and representation on equal employment opportunity, personnel, information law, and other organizational and management issues. She also served as Special Counsel and Executive Assistant to the General Counsel (1993-1996), and as an attorney in the Division of Educational Equity and Research, where she provided legal services for several elementary and secondary education programs and represented the agency in administrative and Federal court litigation (1983-1993). Ms. Ellis was a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in 1987.

Ms. Ellis received her B.A. in Political Science from Tufts University in 1978, and her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1983. She is a member of the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania Bars, and is active in the District of Columbia Bar and in several voluntary professional and community organizations.