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Page 2 of 3 Ellis Driver <br />Boards/Commissions applied for: <br />Past Service on Orange County Advisory Boards: <br />N/A <br />Human Relations Commission <br />Background, education and experience relevant to this board: <br />I have lived in Alamance, Guilford, and Orange county my entire life, I went to school at UNC- <br />Chapel Hill and currently own a home in north Hillsborough. I care deeply about the inequity in <br />Orange County and feel it is imperative to foster environments where this cannot be ignored <br />anywhere. I participate in Hillsborough local government to what extent I can as a rural <br />Hillsborough resident and attend meetings/read notes, reach out when I see a way I can help or <br />a potentially dangerous error <br />In the past several years I have volunteered with various political campaigns, anti-HB2 work, and <br />participated heavily in local protests and been part of various impromptu jail support teams and <br />defendant safety and financial support teams (currently for the 23 defendants recently arrested <br />in Durham). I am eternally committed to being educated by and promoting local anti-racist <br />organizations, activists, and ideas. I have a network of social justice activists in Greensboro and <br />Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh from whom I continue to learn so much. I have a family of <br />teachers, some of who are union activists in NC and have taught me worlds about the fragile <br />state of public schools in NC before and during COVID. <br />I am a long-time member of the OC Beekeepers Association and am otherwise tuned into the <br />dire state of protecting our beautiful OC landscape and environment. More importantly, I want to <br />help uplift our citizens in vulnerable populations from the dangerous health and socioeconomic <br />consequences of pollution and environmental destruction. <br />I am not sure how relevant this is, but I have a BFA in Studio Art and a BS in Biology and <br />professionally I am an entomologist. I have worked for several years to finally make measurable <br />strides pushing my employer to be more trans-friendly and am currently working toward moving <br />my career into data science and analytics. <br />Reasons for wanting to serve on this board: <br />I love Orange County and everything that living here has taught me and currently find myself in a <br />position to give back. I saw the Social Justice Goals of the HRC of Orange County and found <br />them to be truly aligned with my own goals and would love to serve the county where I live in <br />working toward equity, safety, and dignity for everyone here. <br />I know we have a large wealth gap in income and school funding/performance/inclusions and we <br />are currently in an economic and health crisis. I want to assist in every way I can to promote life- <br />saving policies throughout and after COVID, all without losing sight of our historic and persistent <br />need to fight the racial and other inequity in OC. I am good at parsing large amounts of <br />information and do not make decisions until I have sought and found solid input and context for <br />them. I am very concerned about what walls are in the way of marginalized folks participating in <br />local government and how to break them down, and it sounds like the HRC is as well. <br />I am also tickled that the HRC is the commission that presents the Pauli Murray award—I have <br />been to nearly every Pauli Murray event at various churches and put on by the Pauli Murray <br />Center/Pauli Murray Project as I am a tremendous fan of her. Her legacy is close to my heart as <br />a North Carolinian, as a trans person as an anti-racist, and as a past attendee of the Chapel of <br />the Cross on UNC campus. <br />Contribution to the diversity of viewpoints on this board: <br />15