Ellyn L. Brown

Retired Principal, Brown & Associates

Director since 2012

Ellyn Brown joined CNO Financial Group's board of directors in May 2012. She serves as the chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee and is a member of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee.

Until her retirement from full-time practice, Brown practiced corporate and securities law, most recently as principal of Brown & Associates, a boutique law and consulting firm based in the Baltimore area that provided operations, regulatory and governance services to financial services industry clients and other clients that operated in heavily regulated, high-scrutiny environments.

Brown served as a member of the board of directors of NYSE Euronext, Inc., and predecessor entities, from 2005 until the acquisition of NYX by the Intercontinental Exchange in 2013, and chaired the board of NYSE Regulation, Inc., the independent NYSE subsidiary responsible for regulatory oversight of the members and operations of all NYSE-owned exchanges, through 2014.  She was a trustee, and subsequently chair, of Brinker Capital Destinations Trust from January 2017 until May 2021, and she served as a director of Walter Investment Management Corp. (NYSE:WAC) from 2009 to 2017.

Brown served as a governor of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) from 2007 to 2012, and, from 2007 to 2011, was a trustee of the Financial Accounting Foundation, the parent entity of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB).

Previously, Brown taught securities and business law at Villanova University and the University of Maryland, served as Maryland's Securities Commissioner and practiced securities law at a large private firm. She has served as a board member of several regulatory and professional organizations in the financial services arena, and a number of Maryland civic and educational institutions, including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Brown holds an undergraduate degree from Vassar College, a master's degree in demography from the Johns Hopkins University and a law degree from the University of Maryland.