About Me

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Ellen A. Ensher, Ph.D., is a Professor of Management at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Dr. Ensher is a leading expert in mentoring and is a highly rated speaker. She also leads workshops at conferences for public and private organizations in the United States and throughout the world.

Education and Teaching

  • Education:
    • Master’s degree in Public Administration at the University of Southern California (USC)
    • Doctorate in Organizational Psychology at Claremont Graduate University (CGU)
  • Ensher, Professor of Management, currently teaches courses in Human Resource Management, Organizational Behavior, and International topics for the College of Business at Loyola Marymount University (LMU).
  • The Los Angeles Business Journal recognized Ellen as a Mentor of the Year finalist in 2022.
  • Received the 2022 Poets & Quants 50 Best Undergraduate Business Professors Award for excellence in teaching.
  • Has taught executive education for the University of Notre Dame, UCLA, and LMU.
  • Has four courses available on LinkedIn Learning on the subjects of mentoring and management.

Education and Teaching

  • Education:
    • Master’s degree in Public Administration at the University of Southern California (USC)
    • Doctorate in Organizational Psychology at Claremont Graduate University (CGU)
  • Ensher, Professor of Management, currently teaches courses in Human Resource Management, Organizational Behavior, and International topics for the College of Business at Loyola Marymount University (LMU).
  • The Los Angeles Business Journal recognized Ellen as a Mentor of the Year finalist in 2022.
  • Received the 2022 Poets & Quants 50 Best Undergraduate Business Professors Award for excellence in teaching.
  • Has taught executive education for the University of Notre Dame, UCLA, and LMU.
  • Has four courses available on LinkedIn Learning on the subjects of mentoring and management.

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Consulting and Media Experience

Dr. Ensher has consulted at many organizations both domestically and globally including: City of Los Angeles, Kraft Foods, Legg Mason, LinkedIn, Sisters of the Holy Cross, Teleperformance, and the United States Navy.

Ellen has taught business students and executives in South Africa, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Morocco, and presented at conferences all over the world. Ellen has been quoted on the topic of mentoring, careers and human resources in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fast Company, Money magazine and USA Today. She has appeared as a guest on various radio and TV shows in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, and New York and has been interviewed for a variety of podcasts. Ellen has been an invited expert speaker at several U.S. embassies.

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Publications

Dr. Ensher wrote Power Mentoring: How Successful Mentors and Protégés Get the Most out of Their Relationships (Jossey-Bass) with co-author, Susan Murphy. Dr Ensher has published more than 50 academic articles and book chapters and has delivered hundreds of conference presentations. Professor Ensher has published in top-tier academic journals including: Academy of Management Executive, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Journal of Career Development, Journal of Vocational Behavior and Leadership Quarterly. Dr. Ensher has published extensively on the topic of mentoring and careers. Recent publications and research interests include: virtual mentoring & managing, teaching in virtual reality, and international curriculum development.

Publications

Dr. Ensher wrote Power Mentoring: How Successful Mentors and Protégés Get the Most out of Their Relationships (Jossey-Bass) with co-author, Susan Murphy. Dr Ensher has published more than 50 academic articles and book chapters and has delivered hundreds of conference presentations. Professor Ensher has published in top-tier academic journals including: Academy of Management Executive, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Journal of Career Development, Journal of Vocational Behavior and Leadership Quarterly. Dr. Ensher has published extensively on the topic of mentoring and careers. Other publications include topics such as: defining moments, work-family balance, women’s career issues, and faculty career engagement strategies.

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Service & Awards

Dr. Ensher has been the recipient of many fellowships and grants, including the prestigious American Association of University Women’s Fellowship. In 2017, Dr. Ensher was awarded a Fulbright Specialist grant and thereby taught in Finland. In 2018, she received an Eddy award for excellence in teaching from the City of Los Angeles LAX Chamber of Commerce. In 2022, the Los Angeles Business Journal honored Professor Ensher as a Mentor of the Year finalist for her work in mentoring and progressing women’s careers. Ellen was recognized as Poets & Quant’s 50 Best Undergraduate Business Professors Award for excellence in teaching. Previously, she served on the advisory board for MentorNet and was selected by students to be inducted into the LMU business fraternity, Delta Sigma Pi and business honor society, Beta Gamma Sigma. Professor Ensher led the revamp of the Management Leadership Major at LMU and takes a leading role in developing international curriculum.

About me

I currently live in Los Angeles with my family. I am an avid reader, and especially love historical fiction. I love to hike, swim, and practice Pilates. I grew up in land-locked Fresno, California, so am eternally grateful to now live near the ocean. I have traveled to 67 countries and have at least 20 more countries to visit on my bucket list!

About me

I currently live in Los Angeles with my son and husband and am an avid reader. I love to hike, swim, and practice Pilates. I don’t have any real hobbies except driving my son to all of his extra-curricular activities! I grew up in land-locked Fresno, California, so am eternally grateful to now live near the ocean. I have traveled to 67 countries and have at least 20 more countries to visit on my bucket list!

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How I discovered my calling in mentoring

The Los Angeles Riots of 1992 were my entry point into studying mentoring. At that time, I was in my first year of graduate school, working as a trainer at the LA Times, and searching for a research project. As a diversity trainer and passionate advocate for the career progression of women and people of color, I knew I wanted to find a topic that would resonate with these interests. After the LA Riots, the director of Training and OD asked me to help her answer the question “does race matter?” when pairing students in the LA Times Summer Jobs Training Program with their mentors. At the time, there was little research on this topic and I dove in—this resulted in my first publication which you can read here (Effects of Race, Gender, Perceived Similarity, and Contact on Mentoring Relationships in the Journal of Vocational Behavior). We found out that race matters, at first, but that after people get to know each other at a deeper level the distortions of perceptions due to race dissipate. This research hooked me into mentoring. Fast forward to 2014 when I learned about the importance of mentoring on an intense personal level. I was diagnosed with breast cancer and overnight I had to switch roles, take medical leave, gain a new identity as a breast cancer patient, acquire a whole new set of knowledge and skills, AND make decisions fast. It struck me that this experience of identity shifting is really common and that all the learning I had gained professionally about how to get a network of mentors could be applied to this personal challenge. I connected with a team of mentors and with their support made it back to the other side of health. If you want to read more about this journey, you can check out my blog here and learn more about career tips and mentor advice in Los Angeles.