Jo Ellen Chatham

Biography

In January 2019, Dr. Jo Ellen Chatham was named Director of Concordia University Irvine’s Center for Civics Education. The Center is dedicated to promoting civil dialogue, providing educational and inspiring programs devoted to our nation’s history and foundational principles, and encouraging informed citizen engagement.

Jo Ellen retired as Director of Public Affairs for Southern California Edison (SCE) after twenty years managing a team of Region Managers serving more than fifty cities in Orange and Los Angeles and supporting strategic planning for public affairs services.

Jo Ellen is the former Chair of the Board of Trustees of PBS SoCal, the second most viewed of more than 340 PBS stations in the United States, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Public Media Group of Southern California. She served as Lay Vice Chair of the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) and continues as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Pacific Symphony and the Board of Directors of the Orange County Forum.

For nearly 15 years Jo Ellen was an Associate Professor of Political Science at West Los Angeles College where she also served as an administrator and officer in the Faculty Senate. Prior to joining SCE, Jo Ellen was president of Eagle Forum of California, a public policy organization; appointed by Governor Pete Wilson to the Board of Governors of the California State Bar Association and the Narcotic Addict Evaluation Authority and was a member of the Board of the Henry Salvatori Forum at the University of Southern California.

Jo Ellen has served in various capacities on the boards of numerous organizations, including the Orange County Commission on the Status of Women, the Orange County Business Council, the World Affairs Council of Orange County, Red Cross of Orange County (Secretary), the Orange County High School of the Arts Foundation Board, the Leadership Council of the Center for the Study of Democracy at the University of California at Irvine, and the Board of Visitors of the Chapman University School of Law and Orange County Taxpayers Association. She is the Public Affairs Ambassador for the Nowruz Commission and a member of the Advisory Board of the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations which awards the Ellis Island Medals of Honor.

In 1987, Jo Ellen authored “A More Perfect Union: The Constitutional Convention of 1787”, which received official recognition by the United State Commission on the Bicentennial of the Constitution. Among other honors, she received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2015. She received her B. S. and M. A. in Political Science from California State University at Northridge and a second M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Southern California. She also studies Consumer Economics at UCLA graduate school.

For two years Jo Ellen was a panelist on NBC’s Emmy Award-winning public policy program “Free 4 All” and a frequent guest on television and radio, including appearances on such programs as “CNN and Company,” “The Tom Snyder Show,” “The Today Show,” CBS’s “News Makers”, “Live in L.A.” and many others. She was a political columnist for the Daily Pilot and has organized and taught seminars in effective political action and media relations. She is a co-founder of the Alpha Political Campaign School and has authored The Political Campaign Manual and the Citizen Action Manual.