Elliott Smith currently serves as the Program Administrator for Student Engagement at the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School. Prior to this role, he worked as a senior executive assistant and social justice organizer with Repairers of the Breach, a nonpartisan organization that advances a progressive moral agenda rooted in justice, fairness, and the common good. He also played a key role in leading student engagement and outreach for the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for a Moral Revival, a continuation of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s campaign to combat systemic racism, poverty and militarism. Furthering his impact in public service, Elliott spent two years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where he contributed to advancing the agency’s environmental justice initiatives.

Elliott’s commitment to justice is deeply rooted in his family history. He is the great-nephew of civil rights icon Amelia Boynton, a leader in the Selma voting rights movement, and the cousin of Bruce Boynton, whose landmark Supreme Court case Boynton v. Virginia helped end racial segregation in interstate travel facilities.

In addition to his professional work, Elliott serves on the Board of Directors for the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth, and Reconciliation, an organization that addresses systemic violence through Kingian Nonviolence and conflict resolution in Selma and Dallas County, Alabama.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Radford University (2017) and a Master of Public Administration from American University (2024).