My Name is Andy Ellis, and I live in Northeast Baltimore City with my wife, Dana, our four cats, and our flock of backyard chickens. I like the Orioles, the Ravens, backyard gardening, and visiting farmers’ markets.

I was born in Washington, D.C., and spent my K-8 years in Virginia, but my heart knew that, like our state bird and my favorite team, the Baltimore Orioles, I belonged in Maryland. I attended Thomas Johnson High School in Frederick, then college at Towson University and St. Mary College of Maryland, and I have called Baltimore City home since 2005. 

I have an enthusiastic belief in the power of language to inform, educate, and persuade. I was on the debate team at Thomas Johnson High School and in college at Towson University.

After my time as a competitor was over I started coaching debate, I worked in Vermont, Southern California, New York State, and Wyoming, before I came back to Baltimore in 2005 to launch and coordinate the Baltimore Urban Debate League middle school program.   

In 2008, I coached Towson University to their first debate national championship. The team of Dayvon Love and Deven Cooper, two Baltimore Urban Debate League graduates, became the first team of two Black students to win a Cross Examination Debate Association National championship. 

In 2025, Love and I won the Cross-Examination Debate Association public advocate award for our work using argument and advocacy to advance democracy and voting rights in Baltimore.

I’m grateful for the awards, the recognition, and the national championships, but the most rewarding part of my work with young people in debate has been witnessing students and coaches I mentored grow into leaders in civic affairs, politics, and education.

After my time in debate, I spent nearly 15 years in the corporate tech sector working to identify problems, understand data, and offer transformative solutions.