2019 Hall of Achievement Inductee

Connie Ballmer ’84 is the co-founder of Ballmer Group, which supports efforts to improve economic mobility for children and families in the United States who are disproportionately likely to remain in poverty. Ballmer Group uses philanthropy and civic activism to help ensure that a person thrives through a healthy birth and stable family, a safe childhood and adolescence, a good education, and a career that can support a family. Ballmer Group works nationally and engages deeply in three regions—Washington state, Los Angeles County, and southeast Michigan.

Connie’s longstanding philanthropic focus has been on the well-being of children, especially those in the foster care system. She is a general partner and founding investor at Blue Meridian Partners, a funding collaborative seeking to make strategic investments that help transform the lives of America’s most economically disadvantaged kids. She also serves on the boards of StriveTogether and the Los Angeles Clippers Foundation.

A native of Oregon, Connie serves as a founding member of the governing board at the University of Oregon, where she earned a B.S. in journalism before entering a career in public relations and marketing for the technology sector. Connie received the University of Oregon’s Pioneer Award in 2019 and was inducted into the School of Journalism’s Hall of Achievement. Connie and her husband Steve have three sons and reside in Bellevue, Washington.