The Sparkle of Destiny: Dr. Ellie Giles at TEDxBethesdaWomen

As her second career, Dr. Ellie Giles serves as Director of Operations of Montgomery Business Development (MBDC) Corporation, the first public/private economic development agency in Montgomery County. In this role, Dr. Giles builds relationships and implements actions with targeted decision makers to realize a share vision of economic stability.

She is an avid believer in expanding horizons and stretching your abilities on a daily basis to ensure the vitality of life. A can-do person with lots of energy, Dr. Giles has supported many women through career transitions and navigating new possibilities and directions for life-long growth and actualization.

Dr. Giles is a former instructor and researcher at Johns Hopkins with an emphasis on developing strategies to enhance educational practices for students with special needs. Her book entitled, Paraprofessionals' Perceptions of Training and Efficacy details specific strategies to optimize support staff in the classroom in order to enhance student's learning experiences. She is an award winning international speaker and consultant sharing her passion regarding educational reform and advocacy for a strong educational future. She has over 30 years of experience in the field of education and has been recognized as National Educator of the Year.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)