Ellie King has turned lived experience into leadership, testimony into transformation, and service into Kingdom impact. Known as The Nonprofit Girl, she has built her life’s work around empowering nonprofit leaders, advocating for vulnerable communities, breaking down silos, and helping people remember that healing is possible. With faith as her foundation, Ellie is using her story, strategy, and service to leave people, organizations, and communities better than she found them.
Many people know Ellie King as “The Nonprofit Girl” or “The Kingdom Business Builder,” a title lovingly given to her by her sister in Christ, Vivian Villanueva, CEO of Crown of Faith Network, during a conversation where they were trying to summarize all that God has allowed Ellie to do professionally and in ministry. But above every title, role, organization, or accomplishment, Ellie identifies first as a daughter of God. Her faith is the foundation of everything she does, and even as she continues to grow as a work in progress, her passion remains rooted in serving God, serving people, and building bridges between communities.
Ellie is deeply passionate about preserving and honoring culture, cross-cultural collaboration, mental and behavioral health advocacy, substance use recovery, sustainable housing, domestic violence prevention, anti-human trafficking efforts, and equitable access to education and resources. At the heart of her work is a desire to create spaces where individuals who have historically been overlooked can be seen, heard, and supported with dignity. Her life’s work carries the belief that God never wastes our experiences, and that the freedom she has found through salvation, her lived experiences, her education, and her personal journey have all become tools that God uses in her purpose.
Her calling to nonprofit and community service was not born from observation alone. It was born from lived experience. Ellie often says that her mess became her message and her test became her testimony. She has experienced many of the systems she now works to improve, and because of that, she understands what it feels like to navigate trauma, instability, and barriers to opportunity. What inspired her was not simply seeing a need, but living through it. God allowed her to walk through difficult seasons so that she could walk alongside others with compassion, credibility, and understanding.
That experience eventually became her professional calling. Ellie’s work centers around nonprofit structuring, grant writing, coalition building, and breaking down silos between organizations, sectors, and communities. She believes collaboration, not competition, is how sustainable change is created. Whether she is helping build resource centers, supporting unhoused individuals and families, advocating for behavioral health services, mentoring emerging leaders, or consulting organizations on strategy and development, her mission remains the same: to create pathways that empower people and strengthen communities.
Recently, Ellie rebranded her work under The Nonprofit Girl, LLC, a vision born out of nearly 30 years of service and leadership in the nonprofit sector. The Nonprofit Girl serves as the umbrella company that formally marries all of the work she does to educate, empower, and equip individuals, nonprofits, and community leaders to create meaningful and sustainable impact. Through this platform, Ellie helps aspiring and established nonprofit leaders navigate vision casting, organizational structure, governance, program development, strategic planning, fundraising, partnerships, and systems building.
For Ellie, it is not enough for someone to simply have a heart to serve. She wants to help leaders build organizations that are sustainable, compliant, and positioned to create lasting change. The Nonprofit Girl also serves as the birthplace and umbrella for her nonprofit initiatives, including Agape Community Transitional Services Foundation, A.C.T.S., which focuses on serving vulnerable and underserved populations through culturally responsive, trauma-informed services and community partnerships. At the center of all of this is coalition building, because Ellie believes communities become stronger when nonprofits, businesses, faith communities, public systems, and grassroots leaders choose to work together instead of apart.
Some of Ellie’s most rewarding experiences are the quiet ones that never make headlines. A family receiving housing after years of instability, a survivor finding their voice, or watching someone realize their life still has purpose and possibility are the moments that remind her why the work matters. For Ellie, service is not about being someone’s hero. It is about walking with people until they remember who they are and recognize the strengths they already possess. Knowing that something she lived through helped another person heal or succeed is one of the greatest rewards of her journey.
Like many people who dedicate their lives to service, Ellie has faced personal and professional challenges that tested her faith and resilience. She has experienced trauma, adversity, and seasons that required her to rebuild from the ground up. Through those seasons, she learned that overcoming challenges is not about never falling. It is about continuing to rise with purpose. Her faith, community, education, and commitment to lifelong healing have allowed her to transform difficult experiences into opportunities for growth and service.
There was a time when Ellie described herself as a victim of abuse. As she began to heal, she evolved into calling herself a survivor. But the more she shared her story and sought God, the more she felt Him telling her to “shake it off.” She came to the realization that victims are often defined by what happened to them, and some never make it to the next season. Survivors have overcome unimaginable circumstances, but many are still simply trying to make it through each day. Neither title fully captured who she had become. Ellie realized she was different. She was redeemed.
Today, Ellie does not define herself by what happened to her. She defines herself by Who called her. She is healed, whole, and walking in purpose. Her pain became preparation, her mess became her message, and her testimony became a bridge that allows her to serve others with compassion, authenticity, and hope. She believes God did not preserve her life merely so that she could survive. He preserved her life so that she could thrive, lead, build, and help others discover that their story does not end with their trauma.
Ellie does not wear her past as her identity. She carries it as evidence of God’s faithfulness. What was meant to break her became the very thing God uses to build communities, empower leaders, and remind others that healing is possible. She is not a victim. She is more than a survivor. She is a woman of faith, purpose, and Kingdom impact. When summarizing her greatest challenge, Ellie says it was seeing her own self-worth, but out of that challenge came her insatiable desire to empower men, women, and children in this space.
Her personal journey is inseparable from her passion for service. Ellie knows what it feels like to need support, advocacy, and hope, and because of that, she approaches her work with empathy and cultural humility. She does not simply serve communities. She belongs to them. Every experience has helped shape the leader she is today and deepened her commitment to creating systems and spaces that are trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and accessible to all.
The impact Ellie hopes to make is rooted in leaving communities better than she found them by building sustainable partnerships and creating opportunities for others to thrive. Her vision is to help create coalitions that break down silos between nonprofits, government agencies, businesses, faith communities, and grassroots leaders. She understands that no one organization can solve the greatest challenges alone. She wants people to know they matter, that healing is possible, and that community is strongest when everyone has a seat at the table.
Ellie is also deeply thankful for the people, communities, and organizations that have helped shape and support the work. She gives thanks for her husband, their kiddos, their church, their Pastors, The Esther Circle, her powerhouse sister Kendra C, Pastora Vanessa, Love Never Fails, The Crown of Faith Network, The G.I.R.L. Network, Marty Munoz and her ministry and mentorship, Nikki Nguyen, Community Partners Advocate of Little Saigon Sacramento, Strong Smart Kind, Women of Color on the Move, Women’s Wisdom Art Council, Twenty Together, Serena Vu, Stephen O. and Amy, Defenna Foundation, and Break The Silence Against Domestic Violence. That gratitude reflects the heart of her mission because Ellie understands that impact is never built alone.
There are countless success stories Ellie carries with her, and each one has shaped her in some way. What stays with her most are the moments when people realize they are capable of more than they ever imagined. Watching someone transition from surviving to thriving, whether through housing, recovery, education, or leadership, is something she never takes for granted. For Ellie, success is not always measured in numbers. Sometimes it is a smile, a graduation, a new beginning, or hearing someone say, “I finally believe I’m worthy.”
Her advice to anyone who wants to start helping others is simple: start where you are and serve with humility. Ellie believes you do not need a nonprofit organization or a title to make an impact. There are so many opportunities to serve, and nonprofits and organizations can always use more willing and able people to be part of a collective effort. She encourages people to listen more than they speak, learn from the communities they serve instead of assuming what they need, lead with compassion, collaborate generously, and remember that service is not about being seen. It is about making sure others are seen. Most importantly, she reminds people to take care of themselves, because they cannot pour from an empty cup.
Currently, Ellie is involved in several community initiatives focused on behavioral health, culturally responsive resource development, nonprofit leadership, coalition building, and community wellness. She is continuing to expand her work through The Nonprofit Girl platform, where she educates, advocates, and empowers nonprofit leaders and emerging changemakers. Her work includes developing community partnerships, speaking engagements, mentorship opportunities, and projects that promote health equity, housing solutions, and cultural preservation. Every project she works on is rooted in one question: “How do we leave people and communities better than we found them?”
Through her nonprofit A.C.T.S. Foundation, Ellie is working on establishing a stronger presence in Sacramento after already making a mark in Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Merced County, as well as regionally. She is looking to connect to the Continuum of Care and do even more. With Community Partners Advocate of Little Saigon Sacramento, she is seeking funding, sponsorship, connection, and volunteers for upcoming events such as Pho for Seniors and the LYN Têt Festival. With Defenna Foundation, there is a call for models, vendors, designers, creatives, and sponsorship for the organization’s first fundraising fashion show, produced by Defenna Founder and CEO Stephen O of Hello Sunshine Collective and FIG Mobile Fashion, along with A.C.T.S. Foundation.
Ellie is also connected to Women of Color on the Move, which is seeking global support to carry its mission forward and partners with Solidarity Saturdays in Sacramento. They are always seeking tents, sleeping bags, hygiene products, snacks, and support for those in need. Women’s Wisdom Art Council is seeking support and volunteers to help serve women through art. Twenty Together is seeking neighborhoods and businesses willing to provide financial support to its global effort of neighbors helping neighbors. The Strong, Smart, and Kind Foundation, also known as SSK Foundation, is a volunteer-driven nonprofit that empowers women, develops young leaders, and breaks the stigma around mental health through leadership development, educational workshops, mentorship, and community programs.
The legacy Ellie hopes to leave is one of service, faith, and impact. She wants to be remembered as someone who loved people well, honored culture and community, and helped create opportunities where none existed before. She hopes to leave behind stronger systems, empowered leaders, and communities that continue to collaborate long after she is gone. More than any title or accomplishment, Ellie hopes people say that she showed up authentically and used every experience God entrusted to her for the benefit of others.
Ellie King’s story is a reminder that healing can become leadership, lived experience can become strategy, and faith can become the foundation for community transformation. Through The Nonprofit Girl, A.C.T.S. Foundation, and the many partnerships connected to her work, she continues to educate, empower, and equip people to build with purpose. Her mission is not about doing everything alone. It is about bringing people to the table, breaking down silos, and proving that when communities collaborate with integrity, compassion, and purpose, real change becomes possible.
People can connect with Ellie King and support her mission below:
Website: www.thenonprofitgirl.com
Instagram: @thenonprofitgirl
Donation and partnership inquiries: ellie@thenonprofitgirl.com
People can support Ellie’s mission by partnering on community initiatives, collaborating across sectors, volunteering, mentoring others, and investing in organizations that are creating meaningful and sustainable change. As Ellie believes, we are better together, and there is room at the table for everyone willing to serve with integrity, compassion, and purpose.