Black By God: People Moving the Mountains Spotlight Profile: Shanté Ellis

By Traci Phillips | Black By God: The West Virginian

The Financial Equity Architect Redefining Rural Appalachia

Across the nation, conversations about equity often focus on social justice, education, or housing. But a growing movement recognizes that financial access — banking, lending, credit, and community investment — is one of the most powerful levers for real, lasting change. In West Virginia, one of the leaders moving this work forward is Shanté Ellis, a dynamic force redefining what racial, economic, and community empowerment looks like in Appalachia.

Her transition into her new role as Director of Community Engagement & Foundation Relations at Element Federal Credit Union marks a pivotal shift for both her career and for the region. Ellis is now positioned at the heart of a growing conversation about financial inclusion in rural communities — a conversation national media is beginning to pay attention to.

This latest chapter expands her impact beyond racial equity training and community enrichment into a domain with enormous possibilities: economic mobility.

From Brooklyn to Charleston: A Journey Toward Appalachian Change-Making

Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Ellis brought to West Virginia a deep background in education, cultural competency training, and community engagement. Since arriving in Charleston in 2016, she became one of the most influential racial equity practitioners in the state, reshaping how organizations, schools, and institutions understood bias, identity, and cultural awareness.

Her work with the YWCA Charleston — first as Racial Equity & Inclusion Program Director, then as Executive Director of the Center for Community Enrichment — solidified her as a leading voice in reimagining community transformation in Appalachia. She created spaces where real conversations could happen, where learning was accessible, and where communities began shifting from awareness to action.

But for Ellis, community change is a living, evolving process. And her move into the financial sector adds a powerful new dimension to her leadership.

Joining Element Federal Credit Union: A New Era of Community-Focused Finance

In 2025, Element Federal Credit Union announced Ellis as its Director of Community Engagement & Foundation Relations, a decision that signaled just how committed the institution is to expanding its impact. Her role bridges community empowerment and financial access — a combination long needed in Appalachia.

Credit unions play a vital role in rural communities. They provide fairer lending practices, financial education, and banking options for families that might otherwise be marginalized by traditional institutions. With Ellis at the helm of community engagement, Element is positioned to reach deeper into neighborhoods that have historically lacked financial access, wealth-building tools, and culturally relevant support.

Her leadership aligns with national priorities around financial inclusion, community development, and closing racial wealth gaps — especially in underserved regions. In Appalachia, where many residents face barriers to credit, business lending, and home ownership, Ellis brings a crucial understanding of how race, class, and systemic inequity shape the financial realities of rural families.

She represents a growing movement to ensure that economic empowerment is not something rural Black communities must fight for alone — but something built into the structure of institutions that serve them.

Building Equity Systems Across Sectors

One of Ellis’s defining strengths is her ability to translate complex ideas into accessible, community-centered action. Whether working in education, social programs, racial equity, or now in finance, she consistently builds systems that expand opportunity and strengthen connection.

At Element FCU, she is uniquely positioned to:

• Design financial literacy programs tailored to rural and Black communities
• Strengthen partnerships with nonprofits, schools, and local institutions
• Increase access to credit-building tools
• Expand community reinvestment initiatives
• Support young entrepreneurs and emerging leaders
• Grow the credit union’s philanthropic and foundation work

Her leadership brings a culturally informed lens to financial engagement — one that recognizes the unique histories and experiences of Black Appalachians.

This integration of racial equity and financial access is rare in rural America. And it positions Ellis as a national example of what multi-sector leadership looks like in practice.

A National Voice Rising from the Mountain State

By stepping into the financial arena, Ellis is expanding the narrative about who leads in Appalachia — and what that leadership can accomplish. Her work challenges assumptions that rural equity work must happen solely in community centers or educational institutions. Instead, she shows that economic empowerment is a central part of equity, and that Black women can drive that work at executive levels.

Her trajectory represents the modern Appalachia that national audiences rarely see: diverse, innovative, strategic, and grounded in community wisdom.

Ellis’s leadership speaks to a broader truth: the future of rural equity depends on building systems across education, policy, community, and finance. She embodies that intersection. And in doing so, she is helping reshape how West Virginia — and the nation — imagines what’s possible.

Why Her Leadership Matters Now

As rural America navigates widening economic gaps, shifting demographics, and increasing financial pressures, leaders like Ellis are essential. She brings clarity, creativity, and cultural insight into spaces where equity is too often an afterthought.

Her presence at Element Federal Credit Union marks a turning point for how rural financial institutions can serve their communities. It sets a model for how credit unions nationwide can integrate community engagement and equity into their core missions.

Shanté Ellis is not only empowering Appalachia — she is helping define what the next era of rural equity work looks like.

And that is why she is featured in Black By God: People Moving the Mountains — a series honoring Black West Virginians whose leadership is shaping the future of Appalachia and creating ripples across the country.