Ellen Chang

Ellen is a mission focused deep tech investor with a particular focus on the space and air domains. She runs Syndicate 708, a Deep tech investment syndicate and has invested in and supported over thirty deep tech startups over the last 8 years. She is also Vice President Ventures BMNT, a defense innovation consultancy that leads corporate innovation efforts within DoD organizations. She works with the Navy and Space force at senior levels to impact key portfolios. Large systems development efforts require new ways of solving strategic challenges. Design thinking principles that start from ideation and leverage diverse stakeholder input allow teams to unlock creativity and build the best solutions. Ellen started her career as an officer in the U.S. Navy where she served as an intelligence officer. She later joined JP Morgan where, as a banker, she worked with the aerospace team, and, for a short period, in a pilot group that facilitated investing in start-ups. Amidst the dot-com era, Ellen founded a start-up in the aviation industry where the team focused on building a B2B aviation part sourcing and brokerage focused on business jets. On the heels of the dot-com-bust, Ellen was recalled into the Navy to support Desert Storm II. Following this recall, she jointed Northrop Grumman. During her 12 years at Northrop Grumman, she held positions as a systems engineer, then program manager then director of an advanced systems division. Her work included design and development of autonomous systems ranging from the Global Hawk to the Unmanned Carrier-based unmanned aerial system to concepts integrating space and air platforms. Ellen holds a BA in history from the University of Pennsylvania, an MS in systems engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School, and an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School. Ellen loves to run, taste wine, and travel. She is also co-founder of Wharton Aerospace and runs the innovation-ventures focused Wharton Aerospace Ventures.