Long before Dr. Sharonda Elliott held leadership positions or earned a doctorate, she was a girl growing up in Daytona Beach under the steady guidance of women who believed that character mattered. Her mother, grandmother, and aunts gave her a foundation of family, faith, and strength. Among them, her grandmother, the late Juanita Ancrum, left the deepest impression.

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Ancrum was a woman of faith, wisdom, and quiet leadership. She taught Elliott to respect others, love God, value education, and understand that leadership was less about a title than about character and service. Those lessons became a kind of compass. Years later, they would still be visible in the way Elliott approached her work, her education, and the people she served.

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There was also a question that followed Elliott through childhood: Who was her father? She did not meet him until she was 40. The meeting closed a chapter that had carried unanswered questions for much of her life. By then, however, much of what had shaped her had already been given to her by the family that raised her and by the grandmother whose influence remained constant.

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Education became one of the clearest expressions of those early lessons. A proud Mainland High School alum, Elliott carried her sense of perseverance and community with her to college. She began at Morris Brown College in Atlanta before transferring to Clark Atlanta University, where she continued her studies alongside her best friend, LaTosha Wright. Her years at those HBCUs helped shape her identity and strengthened her commitment to leadership and service.

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Her education continued at the University of Central Florida, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies and a Master of Arts in Exceptional Student Education. Later came a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. Along the way, she earned professional certifications and endorsements in Exceptional Student Education, educational leadership, ESOL, reading, and gifted education.

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The degrees tell one part of the story. What they do not show is what it took to earn them.

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Elliott balanced doctoral coursework with professional and personal responsibilities. There were periods of exhaustion and self-doubt. There were sacrifices. Still, she kept moving toward the goal of becoming a more effective leader and advocate for students. When the doctorate was finally earned, it represented more than another credential. It reflected discipline, persistence, faith, and a willingness to keep going when the work became difficult.

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Then life presented a different kind of challenge.

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Elliott was diagnosed with blood clots in her right leg and both lungs. It was the first time she had been hospitalized outside of having her daughter, and the experience was frightening and uncertain. Suddenly, questions about work and achievement gave way to something more basic: gratitude for being alive.

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In that season, she leaned heavily on God as her healer and source of peace. The experience deepened her faith and changed her perspective. It reminded her how fragile life can be and strengthened her determination to trust God even when circumstances were difficult to understand.

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Today, Elliott serves as an educator with Volusia County School District and also works as a consultant with the University of Central Florida on two federally funded projects through the College of Community Innovation and Education.

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Her work is increasingly reaching beyond one school or one community. Her recent election as President-Elect of the Florida Council for Exceptional Children gives her an opportunity to advocate for students with exceptionalities, support educators, encourage professional learning, and participate in conversations about inclusive education and equitable opportunities.

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Service does not stop when the school day ends. Elliott is involved with the Volusia County Council for Exceptional Children, her church community, the Karys Foundation, and the National Hook-Up of Black Women, Inc., Volusia County Chapter. Across those commitments runs the same lesson her grandmother taught her: leadership carries a responsibility to others.

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Away from those responsibilities, there is a simpler side of Elliott. She enjoys roller skating, studying the Bible, traveling, and spending time with her husband and daughter. There is also a dream that never completely left her behind. She once wanted to become an actor—and still does.

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Perhaps that lingering dream says something about her. Achievement has never been the only measure of where she is going. There is still room for curiosity, imagination, family, faith, and whatever comes next.

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Her ambitions are clear. She hopes to grow into higher levels of educational leadership, mentor future educators and administrators, advocate for students with exceptionalities, and help shape systems that offer students a fair opportunity to succeed.

The lessons of Juanita Ancrum remain close.

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Elliott wants to be remembered for loving God, valuing education, serving others, and using her voice for people who need an advocate. For her, success is inseparable from how a person lives and treats others.

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The doctorate, the leadership roles, and the years of service are milestones. But underneath them is something quieter and more enduring: a life guided by lessons planted long ago, strengthened by faith, tested by uncertainty, and still growing toward its purpose.