Ellen Strickland

Ellen is considered a pioneer in helping consumers improve how they live by making healthier, sustainable product choices. She brings over 40 years of experience in the field of interpretive planning/design/management, sustainable living, and strategic business development to her current position as CSO of ShadesofGreen.com. 

Beginning with exhibit planning and design in 1978, her varied skills and interests led to work with design firms and non-profit organizations. In 1988 she established her own firm, E.B. Designworks Inc. 

Ellen collaborated with teams to develop strategic plans and educational materials for both businesses and individual projects, educational programs and exhibits for museums, zoos and aquariums. Given her personal passion for sustainability, in1999 Ellen founded Livingreen, a series of educational retail centers in Southern California, promoting environmental education and the incorporation of sustainable materials and practices into daily life. 

Her varied experiences involved her in green design/build projects at various stages of production. In response to working with the full spectrum of construction materials, and concerns about health from exposure to them, Ellen started Livingreen to promote and sell the best alternatives to standard building and finish materials. Open to both the trades and homeowners, Livingreen provided products and materials to reduce harmful environmental impact and enhance health in the home and workplace. 

To help customers make smarter, well-informed decisions about the level of sustainability in these products, Ellen created a product evaluation program called Shades of Green. Over the years this user-friendly system has evolved into a more sophisticated program that allows products from various manufacturers and artisans to be evaluated for their degree of health and sustainability in five product life stages, using hundreds of questions and thousands of data points to assess and compare products. 

With the closing of the Livingreen brick and mortar stores, Ellen began a new chapter, working for her god-daughter Angela Wade. Angela has now launched the ecommerce version of Livingreen, putting the Shades of Green Product Evaluation Program front and center in a sustainable ecommerce platform.