Ellen Smiley
After graduating from Hofstra University in 1969 with a B.A. and a dual major in speech & drama, Ellen Smiley planned to go to Broadway and work on production crews, or perhaps go into speech pathology. But along the way she got interested in travel, meeting new people and experiencing new places, and went to work for British Overseas Airways Corp.—for 30-plus years, ending as a Duty Manager. After a few transitional jobs, Ellen joined the communications department at Nassau Educators Federal Credit Union (NEFCU), now Jovia FCU, Long Island's 2nd largest credit union. After 6 months she into the business development department, where she got her start in financial literacy. By the time she left NEFCU in mid-2013 she was giving between 125 and 150 classes a year, in addition to her regular job of growing NEFCU membership and usage. It didn’t take long for her to see the value of financial literacy and the difference that awareness and knowledge could have in people’s lives. After leaving NEFCU Ellen started her own financial literacy consulting practice, working with individual clients or groups on managing their everyday money/finances management.
