Ellen Jaffe Jones

Ellen Jaffe Jones is a versatile in-person and virtual keynote speaker. She has placed in an astounding number: 254 5K or longer races for her age group since 2006 "just" on plants. At the 2022 US National Senior Games, Ellen was the only racer in the W70-74 age group to run all 7 track events...the 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500 and 4x100 meters. She got the silver in the 4x100, the bronze in the 800 and 6th in the 1500 meters dispelling any doubt that vegans don't get enough stamina, protein and energy. She was a gold medal winner in track's 4x100 meters at the National Senior Games in 2019 and was chosen as the April 2020 NSG "Athlete of the Month" focusing on her vegan diet for athletic performance. This was the first time the mainstream organization of athletes over 50 featured a vegan.

The interest continues in the mainstream. The largest online website of free classes for those over 50, Get Set Up asked Ellen to be their first sponsored athlete. GSU is on target to have 8 million subscribers by December 2022. Besides helping animals and the planet, Ellen's work helps adults understand that genes don't always determine destiny and that years of unhealthy habits can be undone to enjoy a better quality of life.

A 6-time health, fitness and cookbook author, Ellen was voted the 2014 PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) Sexiest Vegan over 50. She spent 18 years in TV news as an investigative reporter. She has eaten a vegan diet for most of the past 41 years successfully dodging the breast cancer that claimed her mom, aunt and both sisters. Her family was part of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic studies. Ellen is the only adult female without breast cancer. Not all of the cases in her family were genetic. Months away from 70, she often gets taken for 50 or younger.

Ellen has often finished 1st in all 6 Florida state track events multiple years ever since she began competing to qualify for Nationals.

She has finished 2 marathons, and 13 half marathons, placing in one of those. It is rare for anyone with her sprint times to have ever finished a marathon. She reports plenty of energy and easy recovery on a plant-based diet, even though many tell her at races that running vegan is impossible/difficult. No surprise that she's a Road Runners Club of America certified coach and enjoys helping audiences design a fitness program they love to finish without injury, whatever the sport. Her keynote talk, "Finding Your Start Line: 5 Easy Peasies to Get off the Couch and Show Up," helps audiences of businesses, associations and students identify attainable fitness goals and fast track significant, easy lifestyle changes.

A very popular speaker at many national vegfests since 2010, before that, Ellen won the highest awards in broadcasting, including two Emmys and 1st Place for the National Press Club's Consumer Reporting Award exposing real estate fraud in Missouri. After leaving television, she earned high returns for her clients as a financial consultant at Smith Barney, where she was dedicated to socially responsible investing. She became a media consultant for 13 years, tirelessly delivering keynotes in the US and internationally and working one-on-one with CEOs, non-profits, and state and federal agencies to develop effective missions and messages.

Ellen's passion is helping others avoid the pain and suffering she's witnessed since early childhood.

The media have reported on the significant weight loss (up to 120 pounds) and improved health that Ellen's students have experienced after taking her cooking classes affiliated with The Cancer Project, part of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a national nonprofit. As a trained cooking instructor, Ellen taught as many as 2 cooking classes a day, 5 days a week during her 6 years with The Cancer Project. The media have called Ellen's life "an experiment to beat the odds." She personally lost 30 pounds on a vegan diet and kept it off after a life-time of yo-yo dieting. Significant on a 5'3" frame.

Ellen wrote "Eat Vegan on $4 a Day" after watching too many news stories that said food stamp recipients could only afford Twinkies and mac & cheese. She wrote "Kitchen Divided-Vegan Dishes for Semi-Vegan Households" after asking her audiences, "How many of you live in mixed marriages," and hearing many groans. The popular "Paleo Vegan," was the first book to give vegans the option to follow the popular paleo diet, if they so chose. National Geographic in a cover story a year later "The Real Paleo Diet" validated Ellen's research that in true Paleolithic times we were way more gatherers than hungers. "Vegan Fitness for Mortals" arose from her unique position as a female vegan athlete author and personal trainer. Ellen's mantra is always, "finish without injury."

She wrote "Vegan Sex" after spending a lifetime with partners who dissed her diet and who had ED, and in these cases, the precursor to heart disease by as much as 30 years. Her first vegan experience at 62 was so astoundingly different that she thought many more men (and women) might go vegan after seeing and experiencing the stark differences. After writing the intimate and deeply personal book, she ran into cardiologist Dr. Joel Kahn, who accepted Ellen's invitation to write the medical and research section of the book. A year after publication, the popular movie "The Game Changers" shared some of the same research and observations Ellen detailed in "Vegan Sex." And if "Vegan Sex" doesn't work out, she jokes that maybe her last book, "Vegan for One" is an option. ;) Ellen also jokes that she's the vegcoach teaching the art of healthy vegging out, and that she's also the broccoli rep, because who else is?

Postscript 2022: When Covid stopped in-person gatherings, Ellen continued selling real estate in Florida with her vegan boyfriend, who has been selling real estate for decades and is her broker. Ellen was the #1 woman in sales in her office, using her many real estate fraud stories as a foundation for the quality her clients are looking for. As a reporter, she never took no for an answer, a skill that translates well into real estate. Vegfests in Florida are starting to pick up, however, and when she's not racing, she's speaking.

Google her:

Great Vegan Athletes of the Year: 2019, 2020, 2022

Featured in numerous articles including Sarasota Herald Tribune, Bradenton Herald, the Longboat Observer and Plant Based News 

Visit Ellen's website at www.ellenjaffejones.com. and www.vegcoach.com or on YouTube and all social media