Jennifer Elliott, PhD
Dr. Jennifer Elliott is an accomplished executive leader and educator with over 20 years of experience in organizational development, leadership, and culture transformation across education and corporate environments. Currently, she is completing her final year as a special education teacher, a career she pursued later in life after working in retail for more than 30 years while putting herself through school. Her journey into education was deeply personal: after a teacher once told her son he “wouldn’t amount to a hill of beans,” Jennifer was inspired to return to higher education and earn the credentials required to make a difference for students. She has since committed nearly two decades to her own learning, culminating in the completion of her PhD in Educational Leadership and Organizational Development, making her the first doctor in her family.
Throughout her career, Jennifer has led complex instructional and organizational initiatives across multiple school districts, including St. Johns County School District, Duval County Public Schools, Duncan Public Schools, and Pueblo School District No. 60. She has designed and implemented learning systems, strengthened compliance and operational workflows, coordinated multidisciplinary teams, and leveraged data-informed strategies to enhance outcomes. Jennifer combines strategic vision with hands-on execution, ensuring organizations achieve both immediate and sustainable improvements in performance, engagement, and operational excellence.
Dr. Elliott’s doctoral research explored how faculty integrate Large Language Model (LLM) AI tools into online learning while maintaining instructional integrity, bridging the fields of leadership, culture, and digital innovation. With this research directly aligned to her next professional chapter, she is pursuing executive-level roles in education, including university director positions focused on organizational development, learning and development, and workforce transformation. Jennifer’s journey reflects her belief that, regardless of background, anyone can achieve their goals through perseverance, lifelong learning, and purposeful action.
• Colorado State University Pueblo - BS, Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies
• Colorado State University Pueblo - MEd, Special Education and Teaching
• Animal Shelter
• Humane Society
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to becoming a role model for my own children. I wanted to help them find their inner voice, to say, my mom has raised us kids - all my kids are grown now - and she pushed through and made all these things happen with our best interests at hand. It was important for them to stand up to say, hey, we can do this. I'm the first doctor in my family, which is a major accomplishment. Just because our background might be one story, we can always put our best foot forward and accomplish anything that we really want.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say stay true to your dream. Whatever it is that you want out of life, make sure you get it. And don't settle.