Entrepreneur
Founding MemberEllen Rolfes is a philanthropy strategist who has used her entrepreneurial gift of out-of-the-box thinking to help institutions discover financial growth while creating sustainable societal change. Her work has been with academic and healthcare institutions, non-profits in social service and the arts.
She began her career teaching “how to publish a community cookbook” for non-profits through her national seminar business; over 3000 women participated. Professional training led volunteers to raise millions of dollars in charitable donations for communities nationwide. She spent years in New York publishing as a book packager for Doubleday, Simon & Schuster, and G.P. Putnam’s Sons. There, she developed 17 trade titles, including THE BLACK FAMILY REUNION COOKBOOK with the National Council of Negro Women, A GRACIOUS PLENTY with the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, GRACELAND’S TABLE with Elvis Presley Enterprises, and OCCASIONS TO SAVOR with the National Delta Sigma Theta Society.
As the principal architect of The Ole Miss Women’s Council, she facilitated the restructuring of the University of Mississippi’s philanthropy culture through parity, demonstrating the power of women’s giving. Today, the Council’s multi-million-dollar endowment educates students predisposed to shape a more caring and ethical society and sponsors a Global Leadership Institute. During the 20th anniversary celebration, the Council established THE ELLEN ROLFES ENDOWMENT FUND.
She founded the Memphis Symphony Orchestra’s Circle of Friends as a women’s giving initiative with the mission to be an instrument of intentional inclusion through the performing arts. The Circle has become an established forum for diverse female leaders (and now men) to network with others from different cultural backgrounds and life experiences, while having philanthropic impact through music.
She led Circle to establish THE MUSICIAN FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM for gifted graduate student musicians of color to move the orchestra towards better reflecting the face of the community and is the principal architect of their ARTIST in RESIDENCE PROGRAM that sponsors the orchestra’s musicians as teaching artists in public and charter schools. She created Circle’s THE EDDY AWARD, presented annually by the MSO to a community member who has made a transformative contribution to the arts by using the power of music to bring all people together.
She is a former Executive Director of the Women’s Foundation for Greater Memphis and the ACE Awareness Foundation, Past President of the Junior League of Memphis, and a Leadership Memphis and New Memphis member. She was presented the 2024 WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT AWARD in Initiative and the 2025 FRANCES WRIGHT LIVING LEGEND AWARD by New Sardis Baptist Church.
Philanthropy strategist
1994
Founding member
“Entrepreneurs respect the system, but for some indefinable reason, they are internally driven to follow a vision beyond the one recognized by the status quo. They just see things differently. They were those kids in kindergarten who colored outside the lines, and thank goodness they did. The world is a better place because they had the imagination and courage to use those crayons to draw a different picture for everyone else.”
For More Information: http://www.ellenrolfes.com
