Steven M. Ellis coordinates IPI’s advocacy and communication activities, and previously served as senior press freedom adviser, focusing on Europe and North America. Before joining IPI he was a reporter for daily newspaper The Metropolitan News-Enterprise covering courts and the legal community in Los Angeles. He graduated magna cum laude from the Michigan State University College of Law and is a licensed attorney in Illinois and Michigan, where he practiced law after serving as a legal clerk in the Office of Executive Counsel to the Governor of Michigan. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising and has worked in public and government relations.