Mary Ellen (Economics '78; JD Law '84) is the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Peninsula Pacific, a private equity firm in Los Angeles, where she serves on the Management Committee and is responsible for the legal and business affairs of the firm. Prior to joining Peninsula Pacific, she served as a corporate M&A partner at Latham & Watkins for over 25 years.
Mary Ellen has served as a Trustee on the UC Berkeley Foundation Board of Trustees for twelve years, serving as an active member of the External Affairs committee and in multiple fundraising events for the University. Mary Ellen also serves on the Board of Trustees of Saint John’s Hospital Health Center Foundation, as well as the Board of the Pacific Neuroscience Institute Foundation and the Board Affairs Committee of Providence/Saint John’s Hospital. Mary Ellen also serves on the boards of two non-profit corporations, Chrysalis, which serves the homeless in Los Angeles and surrounding communities, and Farmlink (www.farmlinkproject.org), which connects farmers to communities facing food insecurity across the U.S.
Ms. Kanoff received her bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley (Phi Beta Kappa) and her J.D. from UC Berkeley School of Law, where she served as Senior Note Editor of the Boalt Law Review. Mary Ellen and her husband, Chris, have four children and reside in Pacific Palisades.