Ellyn Michalak

Ellyn’s Story

Currently, Ellyn serves as the day-to-day lead for all Novartis Pharma’s employee engagement and change management work streams both in the US and at the global level. This includes the standing up and executing on key priorities for the global employee and executive center of excellence, as well as ongoing leader alignment and employee and executive communications within the US market. ​ 

Ellyn served as the client account lead for Takeda Pharmaceuticals, managing day-to-day operations for the development and rollout of a new internal brand for the company’s R&D function amidst a large-scale organizational transformation. In this role, Ellyn helped to design and facilitate two workshops and one half-day training with more than 80 of the organization’s top leaders (both in Japan and in the U.S.). She was also the day-to-day lead for United Minds in developing and rolling out the employee value propositions and employer brands for both Wakefern, a regional grocery cooperative, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.​ 

Prior to joining Weber Shandwick, Ellyn worked in the Communication and Change Management Practice at Towers Watson – a global professional services firm specializing in risk management and human resources consulting. ​ 

Ellyn holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of Notre Dame. She is also proficient in Spanish and has completed Improvisational Theater training programs at two of Chicago’s world-renowned institutions, The Second City and iO (formerly the Improv Olympic).​​