Jill Ellis is a US Soccer Hall of Famer and the winningest head coach of the US 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. Today Jill serves as the President of San Diego Wave Fútbol Club, a professional soccer franchise that began competing in the National Women’s Soccer League in 2022 and has turned her focus to helping grow the game off the field and increasing the number of women coaching soccer at all levels. As a motivational speaker, Jill presents to groups of all industries and backgrounds and offers the lessons learned throughout her illustrious and trailblazing soccer career on leadership, striving for excellence, and the value of teamwork.
Under Jill’s leadership, Wave FC was the first expansion team in NWSL history to make the NWSL Playoffs and, in its inaugural season, set the 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. Jill’s leadership lead the US Women’s National Team to two World Cup Championships; and their overall USWNT record was 106 wins, seven losses and 19 ties.
Jill served as an assistant coach for the 2008 Gold Medal Summer Olympics in Beijing and London in 2012. She was elected twice as FIFA World Coach of the Year and a Fellow in the Fellowship of Elite Coache, ECB Elite Development Loughborough University.
Before her tenure with the US Women’s National Team, Ellis served as Head Coach at UCLA for twelve years. Under her direction, she took the Bruins to eight Final Four appearances – seven in a row – and six straight Pac-10 championships. She also served as head coach at the University of Illinois.
Jill is a member of the iconic FIFA Legends. She led the prestigious FIFA Technical Advisory Group for Women in 2021 and currently serves on the FIVB, FIFA’s group that oversees the game’s rules. Additionally, Jill is a member of the Advisory Committee for LEAD Edu, a not-for-profit organization that builds global leadership development academies. LEAD Edu helps boys and girls with a passion for football learn about leadership and be empowered to become future leaders in their countries.
Originally from Portsmouth, England, Jill moved to the US when she was 15. She attended the College of William and Mary, earning her BA in Literature and Composition and leading the women’s soccer team as a forward. She was also elected as a Divion I All-American player as well as elected to the William and Mary Athletics Hall of Fame and Tribe Champion for Life.
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 assistance to William and Mary in 2018. In 2020, Jill was named a distinguished Chubb Fellow by Yale University.