Hello!
For those who have landed here looking for my most recent blog posting, please look for the “my blog” page on this website, updated as of August 1, 2025.
For those who are looking for information about me, Ellie Krug, a national speaker on how humans can be more inclusive, I say, “Welcome!”
Possibly, you’ve heard about me either as a writer, or as an inclusion workshop presenter, or as a consultant on human inclusivity. Maybe you simply stumbled onto this site.
Regardless of how you arrived, you’ve found someone who late in life figured out who I am. I have the dubious distinction of being the first lawyer in Iowa to transition genders (2009). That experience, age age fifty-two, taught me many life lessons far beyond grappling with being transgender. As I tell audiences, I’m simply a survivor of the Human Condition–it’s just that my survivorship is far more public than for most.
In learning about the true me, my perspective changed. That included coming to understand how all of us are connected in one way or another. In fact, without even knowing you, dear reader, and notwithstanding my personal story, I am certain that we have many things in common, like wanting a child in our life to succeed, or desiring to be free of physical or emotional violence.
It’s our commonalities that I focus on relative to inclusion, which I define as, “the extent to which a human believes that they matter.” Indeed, if someone believes that they matter–at their workplace, where they worship or volunteer, even in their personal lives–they are far more willing to invest. Everyone needs to feel that they matter!
On the other hand, if you don’t believe that you matter, you will disengage. Sometimes, that disengagement may be catastrophic.
In addition, I also highlight how almost all of us–“98 percent”–have good, empathetic hearts. In fact, my work via the Gray Area Thinking® workshop (see below for description) demonstrates in real time how most people default to compassion in one form or another when asked, “What do you want to be known for?” This happens regardless of where I present–big or small town, liberal or conservative audience. Seeing this brings people together, and offers them hope.
That’s my goal: hope. And possibility. And inspiration. I’ll lead the way, offering ideas on how we can be good to each other.
My approach is welcoming, affirming, not divisive or shaming, and unconventional (no podium, no PowerPoint). I tell audiences that I’m good at connecting dots; in turn, I’m told that my work is engaging and thought-provoking–some even say, “transformative.” As of early 2025, I have presented on more than 1000 occasions to Fortune 100 companies, national law firms, government entities, nonprofits, and colleges/universities across North America, with highly positive reviews.
ellie krug 