Joyce Elliott, who served two decades as an Arkansas state senator and representative, is the recipient of the Southern Regional Education Board’s 2024 Jack Hill Champion of Education Award. 

Elliott received the award on June 23 at the SREB Annual Meeting in Dallas. 

“Joyce’s dedication to improving education for every Arkansas student and every student in the SREB region is truly inspirational,” SREB President Stephen L. Pruitt said. “This organization has benefitted from her leadership on our Board and her vision for improving education.”   

Named for the late Georgia state Senator Jack Hill, the award honors state leaders who make important long-term contributions to education and to SREB’s work on behalf of the 16-state region. The award also recognizes leaders sharing Hill’s commitment to civility, cooperation and public service. 

Elliott is a former vice chair of the Southern Regional Education Board of Directors, where she served on the Executive Committee and chaired the Legislative Advisory Council. She served on the Southern Regional Education Board from 2009 to 2022and was a member of SREB’s Community College Commission, Commission on College Affordability in the Southand Early Childhood Commission.  

In Arkansas, Elliott is known for her career as a leader in government, voter registration and education. She served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 2001 to 2006 and in the Arkansas Senate from 2009 until December 2022. In her last term in the Senate, she was vice chair of the education committee. She also served on the budget, retirement, and insurance and commerce committees. In both the House and the Senate, she was named by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette as one of the Ten Best Legislators of the General Assembly. 

Elliott is executive director of Get Loud Arkansas, a nonprofit organization working to register eligible voters in Arkansas. She also is co-chair of the board for the National Center on Education and the Economy, an organization dedicated to efficient systems to prepare students to contribute to society and compete in the global economy. Elliott is also a former chair of the National Conference of State Legislatures Education Committee. 

Elliott was born and raised in the community of Willisville, Arkansas. After earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, she worked as a high school English teacher and as a director of government relations for the College Board. 

Upon accepting the award, Elliott said she had been thinking about “the pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence’s “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  

“If we were pursuing happiness,” she said, “I bet a lot of the things we’re wrestling with would fall into place. Would teachers stay? Would students be more excited?” 

The Jack Hill Champion of Education Award recognizes recipients’ significant years of work to improve education, including efforts to provide opportunity to students from underserved areas. It honors individuals who understand the role of long-term state fiscal commitment to education and working across the aisle as they participate in SREB’s continuing work to strengthen education in the region. 

Hill, from Reidsville, Georgia, served on the SREB Board for 26 years, including terms on the SREB executive committee, as the SREB Board Treasurer and as chair of the SREB Legislative Advisory Council. 

Previous recipients are former state Sen. Howard Lee of North Carolina, state Rep. Francis Thompson of Louisiana and Rep. Alan Baker of Alabama.