Brian Ellis

Brian Ellis is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Danaher. Throughout his career, Brian Ellis has exhibited the values of Rising for Justice. 

In his current role at Danaher, Brian Ellis brings a wealth of experience leading and developing global legal teams and supporting business growth. Brian leads Danaher’s global legal organization and ensures a strong culture of integrity and compliance. His areas of responsibility include corporate governance, quality assurance and regulatory affairs, intellectual property and risk management, as well as the company’s environment, health and safety group. As a leader in public interest and diversity initiatives, Brian is the executive sponsor for Danaher’s African Descent Network affinity group and convened the first meeting among African-American Male General Counsels to tackle diversity and social justice issues. Brian’s global legal teams support pro-bono initiatives across the United States and have been recognized for their time and financial support to many worthy causes. 

Brian was most recently General Counsel at Medtronic’s Restorative Therapies Group where he was an active participant in Medtronic’s pro bono program. His team created partnerships with the Shelby County hospital system to provide legal services to patients whose long-term care and recovery were directly impacted by their ability to address various legal challenges. At Medtronic, he also created and led Medtronic’s African Descent Network which supported many community organizations across the United States to address disparity in access to appropriate healthcare and bringing Medtronic’s solutions to underserved communities. 

In previous roles, he served as Chief Compliance Officer, and later General Counsel for Monitoring Solutions and Services at GE Healthcare. Prior to his work at GE Healthcare, he was a partner in private law firms and an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. 

Brian received his undergraduate degree from Lake Forest College and his J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland with his wife Jeanette, and three children.