About Ellie Hill
Ellie Boldman Hill is a lifelong Rocky Mountain Westerner who describes herself as the daughter of a union worker, the sister of a smokejumper, the wife of a rabid fly fisherman, and an attorney for the poor.
As a youth, she was the only girl on her little league team until high school and to this day is passionate about a child’s access to sports and extracurricular activities. She has no doubts in the essential necessity of 1972’s Title IX laws:
“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
In addition to her parents’ belief in unfettered equality and her own feisty internal sense of justice, this law proved to be a beacon for her own lifelong trajectory. Ellie is still unwavering in her fight for the underdog.
Ellie played soccer at College of Idaho, where she began significant involvement in social justice causes and thereafter began her interest in progressive politics at Boise State University where she graduated with her father in 1997. She and her father were featured on the front page of the Idaho Statesman for this collective achievement; his degree taking 32 years and hers 4, but she will note that her dad paid for them both.
After a lot of skiing and reading a few hundred books in Europe, Ellie continued her educational pursuits at University of Idaho, College of Law, where she graduated in 2001, with a Juris Doctor. In law school, she was the President of the law school divisions of the American Bar Association and Idaho Trial Lawyers. She has practiced law in both the private and public sector, most notably as an Assistant District Attorney working primarily with victim crimes and victim advocacy. Ellie has also practiced law for the Nez Perce Tribe in Lapwai, Idaho and has represented varying city entities in the civil arena.
As a young attorney she was active in Idaho politics, working on several high profile campaigns, and was selected as one of the “30 Rising Stars Under 30”. For this, she was asked to introduce singer Carole King before the Democratic Party’s statewide dinner featuring Al Gore.
After getting married to her husband, John, they moved to Missoula, the single place they both dreamed of moving, where they purchased the oldest house in Missoula and began renovating the property, including opening the house to the public by creating a retail store and hosting community events on the property grounds.
Since 2007 Ellie has been the Executive Director of one of Western Montana’s best known and beloved nonprofit organizations.
The Poverello Center, Inc., founded in 1974, is the state’s largest emergency homeless shelter and soup kitchen located in the heart of downtown Missoula. The “Pov” has an operating budget of approximately two million dollars and is led by a twelve member Board of Directors and a staff of over fifty. It is routinely voted as “Missoula’s Best Non Profit Organization”, and Ellie has been personally voted “Missoula’s Best Activist” for three consecutive years (2007, 2008, and 2009) for her advocacy for the impoverished.
“The success of the state’s largest homeless center, the Poverello Center, rests largely on the shoulders of Executive Director Ellie Hill. The former district attorney never expected to be in her current position, but she points out that the word “lawyer” translates to “advocate” in most other languages. Although she’s kicked around the idea of leaving her current position for a more traditional legal career, it’ll never happen. “I’m still a lawyer in a lot of ways,” she says. “I consider myself an advocate for the poor.”
- 2009 Missoula Independent, Best of Missoula Awards
Ellie serves as the primary spokesperson for the organization. She has been featured in Montana Living Magazine’s “Dream Jobs”, Montana Business Journal’s “Women in Business”; the Missoula Independent’s “35 People You Should Know in Missoula”, and she is interviewed frequently in print, television and radio. She is one of Montana’s preeminent contacts for homelessness, poverty and food insecurity issues. Ellie was also asked to serve on a panel for the internationally respected Aspen Institute and Knight Commission on the information needs of the poor.
Ellie was recently selected as a 2009 Democracy for America, Netroots Nation Scholar, as well as a Fellow for Montana’s highly influential “Policy Institute” recognizing her commitment to progressive values, community outreach and education, and passion for issues effecting the homeless and other marginalized populations.
Ultimately, however, whether it was Girls State in high school or an exceptional fondness for parliamentary procedure, Ellie’s heart is in community organizing and politics. She served as her Precinct Captain and was elected as the Congressional Committeewoman for the Missoula County Democrats, the Board of Directors for the Sustainable Business Council, and Co-Chair for the Missoula Chapter of the New Leaders Council.
She is a proud Forward Montana Rockstar, where she serves on the Fundraising and Development Committee.
Ellie lives downtown in the historic Wilma Theater with her husband and adopted feral cat, Gary, where she watches Meet the Press, Jon Stewart, and Jeopardy religiously.