Lisa Ellman, co-chair of legacy McKenna Long’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Practice Group, was recently profiled in a Fortune magazine article as part of the publication’s “Most Powerful Women” series entitled “Obama’s former law student is shaping the nation’s policy on drones.” The article highlights Lisa’s experience working with President Obama from her time as a law student at University of Chicago Law School to serving in the Obama Administration in legal and policy roles at the White House and the Department of Justice. In recent years, Lisa has become a leader in drone policy through the integration of policy and innovation, which she has coined as “Polivation.”
“There are lot complexities here,” Ellman says. “My approach to balancing the opportunities and challenges presented by drones has been to bring innovators and policymakers — communities that have very little in common — together. Policymakers need to learn about the capabilities and risks of the technology and only innovators can provide that knowledge.”
