Marie Ellis: Lobbying for Justice
Marie Ellis '10 (Photo by Mark Brown)
Since she does not provide direct services, Marie Ellis ’10 sometimes feels removed from people in need. But she never forgets that while she lobbies the Minnesota Legislature as public policy manager for Catholic Charities, she’s really working for those who will benefit from the legislation she champions.
A big part of Ellis’ job in 2013 was advocating for increased state funding for the Homeless Youth Act. That funding skyrocketed from $238,000 per biennium to $6.238 million after the 2014 legislative session. “Those funds are being used to help youth experiencing homelessness find housing and work, attend school, reconnect with family and generally get on a path to living the life they each want to lead,” she said. “To know that I have had a small part in making that happen is a joy.”
Ellis comes by advocacy naturally. Her mother was involved with social justice issues through her church, and her father was involved in politics. Statewide lobbying is Ellis’ way of fulfilling her dad’s definition of success: She has found something she loves to do that helps others and for which she is paid.
After graduating from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, she worked with the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service in Washington, D.C. While there, she saw a lawyer in action. “This woman had answers to all the legislators’ questions, and those answers were respected,” Ellis said.
The event prompted her to consider law school. She knew UST School of Law was right for her when she saw a presentation by the Interprofessional Center for Counseling and Legal Services and learned that the immigration clients received psychological and social work services.
“You can’t solve legal issues if someone can’t get to court, or if they’re hungry or traumatized,” she said. “I knew this was the place for me.”
After graduation, she worked briefly for a small firm that wasn’t a good fit for her skills, so she decided to look around, hoping to feel more content in a job. When she saw a description of her current position at Catholic Charities, she thought, “This is the job for me.”
And she was right. Ellis recently spoke at a church event where the theme was from the Gospel of Matthew passage in which Jesus tells his followers that when they have fed the hungry, clothed the naked, taken in the stranger, given drink to the thirsty and visited the prisoner, they have done these things for God.
“I see the person-to-person connections in that story,” Ellis said. “What advocates do is another form of sharing – advocating for a world where everyone has access to the food they need, where everyone has safe, stable housing and more.”
