[5] After graduating from California State University, Northridge in 1998, Ellis-Lamkins became a union organizer with SEIU Local 715 in San Jose.

Following a campaign to secure union representation for home health care workers and other low-income employees, Ellis-Lamkins joined the staff of Working Partnerships USA as the group's education coordinator.

Working Partnerships raised $6 million in grants during its first six-years of operation and achieved policy successes at the local level while attracting criticism for the non-profit’s financial ties to the electoral activities of the South Bay Labor Council.

[9] In 2003,[10] Ellis-Lamkins led[8] the launch of Partnership for Working Families, a national coalition "dedicated to building power and reshaping the economy and urban environment for workers and communities.

This coalition came together to advocate for equity-based amendments to the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES) — the climate bill in the House of Representatives.

The coalition declared success when the entire House of Representatives approved a version of ACES that included $860 million for green job training and a provision guaranteeing local workers access to ACES-funded energy-efficiency and renewable energy projects.

The Capital Access Program, focused on the private sector, "engages businesses and nonprofits - large and small - to create, sustain, and scale green jobs.

She has served on the boards of the Progressive Technology Project, New World Foundation, the Women's Fund of Silicon Valley, the City of San Jose General Plan Update Task Force and the Central Labor Council Advisory Committee.