Ellen Kozel, the Founder and President of Veterans for Diversity, served in the US Navy from 1966-1972 and the US Army from 1973-7987. She has attended Wentworth Institute of Technology, where she studied Electronics Engineering and went on to North Shore Community College to study Computer Science. Ellen later attended Collin Country Community College to study Computer Programming. Her training and experience led her to start up Veterans for Diversity, a nonprofit organization in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.