# Ellison Anne Williams

> Ellison Anne Williams is a mathematician, former U.S. intelligence-community technologist, and the founder and CEO of Enveil. After twelve years working on large-scale analytics, distributed computing, and cryptographic applications, she left government in 2016 to commercialize technology that lets organizations search and analyze encrypted data without exposing the query or underlying information. Her work now sits at the intersection of privacy-enhancing technologies, financial-crime prevention, secure AI, and cross-boundary data collaboration.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Enveil
- **Organizations:** Enveil, U.S. National Security Agency, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, RSA Conference Program Committee
- **Education:** Bachelor of Arts, Columbia College, M.S. in Mathematics (Set Theoretic Topology), University of South Carolina, Ph.D. in Mathematics (Algebraic Combinatorics), North Carolina State University, M.S. in Computer Science (Machine Learning), Nova Southeastern University
- **Known for:** Founded Enveil in 2016 and built a commercial privacy-enhancing technology company around data-in-use protection., Raised at least $40 million in venture funding for Enveil, according to the company's current biography., Led Enveil to second place at the 2017 RSA Conference Innovation Sandbox competition.

## Career timeline

- **1999** — Earned a B.A. from Columbia College.
- **2001** — Completed an M.S. in mathematics at the University of South Carolina.
- **2004** — Completed a Ph.D. in mathematics at North Carolina State University with a dissertation on n-row Macdonald polynomials.
- **2004-2016** — Worked for twelve years in the U.S. intelligence community, including the National Security Agency and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, advancing large-scale analytics and distributed computing.
- **2009** — Completed an M.S. in computer science at Nova Southeastern University.
- **2016** — Founded Enveil to commercialize privacy-preserving data-in-use technology.
- **2017** — Presented Enveil at RSA Conference Innovation Sandbox; the company placed second only months after its founding.
- **2020** — Named an Outstanding Young Alumna by North Carolina State University's College of Sciences and included among Business Insider's cybersecurity leaders.
- **2022** — Named an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Mid-Atlantic finalist; Enveil announced a $25 million Series B.
- **2026** — Continued leading Enveil's work in encrypted search, secure AI, anti-financial-crime collaboration, public-sector missions, and space-domain data use.

## Achievements

- Founded Enveil in 2016 and built a commercial privacy-enhancing technology company around data-in-use protection.
- Raised at least $40 million in venture funding for Enveil, according to the company's current biography.
- Led Enveil to second place at the 2017 RSA Conference Innovation Sandbox competition.
- Named a 2020 Outstanding Young Alumna by North Carolina State University's College of Sciences.
- Recognized as a Business Insider Cybersecurity Leader, SC Media Reboot Leadership Innovator, and CyberScoop Leet List honoree.
- Selected as an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2022 Mid-Atlantic finalist.
- Published research on n-row Macdonald polynomials in the Journal of Algebraic Combinatorics.
- Serves on the RSA Conference Program Committee.

## Latest updates

- **2026-07** — Enveil published an updated company overview describing its continuing push to make privacy-enhancing technologies operational across data silos.
- **2026-06** — Williams fronted Enveil's explanation of Secure AI and how protected models can be used across security and organizational boundaries.
- **2026-01** — Enveil published Williams's concise explanation of privacy-enhancing technologies for its educational video series.
- **2025-11** — Williams appeared on the Data Unchained podcast to discuss protecting data during use and unlocking value across silos.
- **2025-06** — Williams discussed privacy-preserving data use in heterogeneous civilian, commercial, and military space systems on T-Minus Space Daily.

## Links

- Website: https://www.enveil.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellison-anne-williams-98102a127/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/enveil_inc
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/encryptedveil/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ellison-williams
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-26