Jill Ellis
WSB Exclusive Speaker
FIFA Chief Football Officer; 2x World Cup Champion Head Coach; All-Time Winningest Coach in U.S. Soccer History
Jill Ellis builds and leads championship cultures at the highest levels of global sport.
Jill Ellis is a U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer and the winningest head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team – leading the team to victory in back-to-back FIFA World Cup Championships. After leaving the sideline, she served as an Ambassador for the United States Soccer Federation and later as President of San Diego Wave Fútbol Club, where she helped launch and build one of the National Women’s Soccer League’s most successful expansion franchises.
Today, Jill serves as Chief Football Officer for FIFA, where she oversees the global development and strategic growth of the game. As a motivational speaker, Jill presents to organizations across industries, sharing lessons from her championship coaching career and executive leadership journey on leading through change, building high-performance cultures, sustaining elite performance, and creating teams that thrive under pressure.
Under Jill’s leadership, Wave FC became the first expansion team in NWSL history to make the NWSL Playoffs in its inaugural season, and set NWSL regular-season and playoff attendance records of 23,000+. Jill was the first woman to hold the United States Soccer Federation Professional Coaching License. Before her tenure with the U.S. Women’s National Team, Ellis served as head coach at UCLA for twelve years. Under her direction, she led the Bruins to eight Final Four appearances – seven consecutively – and six straight Pac-10 championships. She also served as head coach at the University of Illinois.
A summary of her accomplishments includes:
• Head Coach – 2x World Cup Champion
• 2x FIFA World Coach of the Year
• Overall USWNT Record: 106 wins, 7 losses, 19 ties
• Fellow – Fellowship of Elite Coaches, ECB Elite Development, Loughborough University
• Assistant Coach – Gold Medal, Summer Olympics (Beijing 2008 and London 2012)
• Head Coach – UCLA (12 years)
• 8 College Cup appearances – 7 consecutive
• Six straight Pac-10 championships
• Division I All-American as a player at William and Mary
• William and Mary Athletics Hall of Fame and Tribe Champion for Life
Jill is a member of FIFA Legends and previously led FIFA’s Technical Advisory Group for Women. In her current role as FIFA Chief Football Officer, she helps shape the strategic direction and continued global growth of the sport.
Additionally, Jill serves on the Advisory Committee for LEAD Edu, a not-for-profit organization that builds global leadership development academies. LEAD Edu helps young people with a passion for football develop leadership skills and become empowered future leaders in their countries.
Originally from Portsmouth, England, Jill moved to the United States at age 15. She attended the College of William and Mary, earning her BA in Literature and Composition while leading the women’s soccer team as a forward. In 2016, Jill was awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters for distinguished humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society. She earned the Alumni Medallion, William and Mary’s most prestigious award recognizing commitment, dedication, and service to the university, in 2018. In 2020, Jill was named a distinguished Chubb Fellow by Yale University.
Featured Videos
Jill Ellis
Managing Internal and External Pressure
Jill Ellis’s Speech Topics
Find the Next Mountain
Motivation is an important aspect of success, but once you’ve achieved something, where do you find the drive to continue? U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team coach Jill Ellis knows all too well that challenge after winning two FIFA Women’s World Cups.
Her solution is to step back, look around, and find the next mountain to climb. In this discussion, Ellis shares with audiences both her keys to finding motivation all around you and why it is important to be open to adaptation to realize and reach new goals. She communicates what has helped her be successful in maintaining team cohesion and motivation in a remote working environment.
Ellis touches on why it is important to handle criticism with class and treat it as a learning tool. She shares how taking a step back in her own career allowed her to clearly reset her own goals and find new motivation on the international sports stage.
Be Bold to Make Leadership Work
As the winningest coach in U.S. Soccer history, Jill Ellis has plenty of experience in molding rosters of talented individuals into successful teams.
Her strategy? Be bold. In this discussion, the former U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team coach will share her leadership expertise garnered from her work with a groundbreaking team. Concentrating on confidence, courageousness, and the ability to take risks, she shares sage advice for how you can apply these traits at work and in life.
Your team may not be playing for the World Cup, but Ellis’ message is universal, as she explains the three cornerstones to becoming a leader that people will follow: a successful connection with people, a clear and attainable direction, and personal humility.
What other organizations say about Jill Ellis
Jill joined us at our Senior Leaders Meeting and delivered a session that left a lasting impression. Her unique career journey was hugely inspiring, especially her laser-focus on success and her ability to bring out the best in others to achieve that. Several team members noted how much they enjoyed her session, highlighting the good humour, honest storytelling, and authenticity she brought to the conversation. Her contribution is sure to play a role in shaping a high-performance culture across our organisation.
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