Leading the Way to Improve Learning and Teaching Conditions
CTA Director At-Large Robert Ellis, a veteran educator at Washington Elementary in the West Contra Costa Unified School District, is serving his second three-year term on the Board, which expires June 25, 2024.
The dedicated, 19-year educator is one of two at-large teachers on the Board who represent California ethnic minority educators.
His experience with his local Bay Area union, United Teachers of Richmond, CTA-NEA, runs deep. He served on its executive board for 16 years and as vice president of the chapter for four years, as well as chairing the bargaining and organizing teams.
For 15 years, he also represented his area as a delegate to the CTA State Council of Education, the union’s top governing board, where he also chaired the African American Caucus for four years and co-chaired the Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee. He has also represented California on the National Education Association Board of Directors for three years, a term that ends Oct. 1, 2018.
“Our students are the future. I love how teaching impacts the future of our communities. My students inspire me every day. Teaching really is a calling.”
His awards include the CTA Lois Tinson Human Rights Award, and being honored with local and statewide “We Honor Ours” (WHO) awards for his union activism. He also has a leadership role doing local and regional PTA work in the East Bay.
He holds a bachelor’s from the University of California, Berkeley.
Ellis lives in Richmond.
Contacting Robert Ellis
California Teachers Association, P.O. Box 921
1705 Murchison Drive
Burlingame, CA 94011-0921
