Bio
Meet Dan Ellison.
Dan Ellison grew up on cattle ranches in western Montana, and attended grade and high school in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley. He graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, then attended flight school in Pensacola, Florida, and received pilot’s wings. He also completed Master’s Degrees from Pepperdine University in Human Resource Management, and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.
Dan is a highly decorated Navy pilot whose active duty deployments took him to Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean, and Antarctica, where he met his future spouse, Jane Fournier. His shore duty included staff work at the U.S. Space Command, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon in Washington, DC where he served as Legislative Assistant to the JCS Chairman, General Colin Powell.
Following naval service, he moved to Wyoming and worked as a Business Manager for the Forest Service. Returning to Montana in 1999, Dan served as a Division Administrator at the Department of Revenue, and as Chief of Administration and Finance at Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. He retired in 2005.
“Helena has been a wonderful place for Jane and me to live and work, and serve as community volunteers. Now is a good time to apply my leadership skills and work experiences to help maintain the quality of life in Montana’s Capital City.”
Dan Ellison has broad experience in public policy and the functions of government at all levels. He worked as a Legislative Assistant to General Colin Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, coordinating Defense Department issues with committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. As an Administrator with state agencies Dan crafted policy positions and budget proposals for the Montana legislature during the 2001 and 2003 sessions. He has appeared before the Helena City, and Lewis and Clark County Commissions on several occasions.
Dan is a life member of Trout Unlimited (TU) and serves on the Board of Directors for Montana TU as the State Treasurer, and the Pat Barnes Chapter of TU in Helena. For 6 years, Dan was a Commissioner on the Helena Regional Airport Authority Board, providing leadership as Board Chairman for the final two years of his term. He is a member of the Montana Business Assistance Connection (MBAC) Loan Committee supplying financial support to individuals and businesses creating new companies or expanding existing firms in this region. He also served as a community representative on the Helena Independent Record Editorial Board. Dan is a life member of the Distinguished Flying Cross Society, and his name is inscribed on the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Wall of Honor.“I respect the excellent working relationship between the city and county. If elected to the city commission I will do my best to ensure a continuation of the civil discourse that the people of Helena have come to expect from their local government institutions.”
