Ellen Kramer Appointed Young & Healthy’s New Executive Director

Nonprofit organization Young and Healthy, which is dedicated to helping Pasadena area children who lack access to medical and dental care, has appointed Ellen Kramer, an experienced nonprofit leader and social justice advocate, as Executive Director.

Kramer said there is nothing more important to her than investing the organization’s collective energies and resources “to ensure children receive everything they need to learn, grow and thrive.”

“It is such an honor to join with the staff and Board of Young and Healthy to build on its successes,” she said. “I look forward to working together to discover emerging opportunities to support Pasadena’s children and their families in pursuit of their optimal health and well-being.”

Kramer began her career as an attorney, working as a court-appointed juvenile court master in Pennsylvania, representing clients in family law, juvenile defense and dependency issues, among others. She eventually became a public defender and then decided to help strengthen juvenile justice practices through the school system.

Kramer worked as the Safe Schools and Delinquency Program Manager for Pennsylvania’s Center for Schools and Communities, Program Manager for the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, and was Executive Director of the Council on Aging at the Pennsylvania Department of Aging.

In the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Kramer filled a number of leadership roles, including as Deputy Director and Legal Director. She helped the organization oversee the funding of 60 nonprofit groups providing services to victims of domestic violence throughout the state.

In 2018, Kramer and her husband moved to California after he was appointed the director of UCLA’s Center for Community Engagement. Since then, she has worked at the Motion Picture and Television Fund and most recently was the Senior Director of Development at the Partners in Care Foundation, which brings healthcare and community-based services to families. She plans to move to the Pasadena area in the coming months.

Kramer holds a Juris Doctorate from University of Pittsburgh Law School and a BA from Middlebury College.

For more information about Young and Healthy, visit www.yhpasadena.org.