Mary Ellen has been a public benefits paralegal with Southeast Ohio Legal Services (SEOLS) since 1980.  Mary Ellen is one of the original members who organized the Union at SEOLS.   She has served her unit as chairperson and on the bargaining committee.  She is the Midwest Vice-President and also one of three trustees who verify the Union's finances and records.

Mary Ellen lives with her husband and 90-year old mother on a working organic farm that raises beef cattle and grows various varieties of berries.  She has been asked to testify many times at the state level on issues affecting low-income persons in Ohio.