About Ellen Brown
Born 1945. Ellen Brown is an American writer, lawyer, essayist, politician and environmentalist.
Ellen Hodgson Brown (born September 15, 1945) is an American author, attorney, public speaker, and advocate of alternative medicine and financial reform, most prominently public banking. Brown is the founder
Life and career She attended law school at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was Book Review Editor of the UCLA Law Review and obtained her J.D. in January 1978. Her law review article, "Restrictions on Alternative Medical Practitioners in California: A Legal and Economic Analysis," published in the UCLA Law Review in 1977, was cited in the dissenting opinion in People v. Privitera, 23 Cal.3d 697 (Cal. 1979) by California Supreme Court Chief Justice Rose Bird, who called it "an excellent and exhaustive review of case and statutory law" on alternative medicine.
Brown was a civil litigation attorney in Los Angeles for ten years.
In 2011, Brown founded the Public Banking Institute (PBI) to promote research and advocacy of public banks. In 2013, Brown published The Public Bank Solution, revisiting her arguments in Web of Debt, tracing the history of public banking, and discussing various options to implement it in the contemporary economy. She was chairman of the Public Banking Institute for most of the years from 2011 until 2025, when she retired.
In October, 2013, her opinion piece on public banking, "Public Banks are Key to Capitalism", appeared in The New York Times.
In 2013, Brown announced her candidacy for California State Treasurer on the Green Party ticket in the 2014 election. On December 27, 2013, the Green Party of California endorsed Brown's candidacy. Brown received 6.5% of the vote during the June primaries, putting her in third place among three candidates, and thus not qualifying her for the general election due to California's "top two" primary system.
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Important facts
People in Ellen Brown's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Ellen Brown's
Frequently asked questions
Who is Ellen Brown?
American author, attorney, and public speaker
When was Ellen Brown born?
Ellen Brown was born on 15 September 1945 in Pleasanton.
What is Ellen Brown's occupation?
Ellen Brown is a writer, lawyer, essayist, politician and environmentalist.
What nationality is Ellen Brown?
Ellen Brown is American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Ellen Brown. https://biography.guide/ellen-brown/
MLA: "Ellen Brown." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/ellen-brown/.
Chicago: "Ellen Brown." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/ellen-brown/.
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