Board Member-at-Large
RETIRED Music and African American Studies Professor
Dr. Elliott is dedicated to uplifting and liberating people by instilling the importance of education through community involvement and service. He holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Argosy University, M.A. in Creative Arts Interdisciplinary Studies, and a B.A. in Music and Black Studies from San Francisco State University. As founder and artistic director of Black Song and Poetry, Dr. Elliott led a group of 30 students to Ghana, West Africa in 2002 to participate in a choral musical festival at the National Theater. He was a featured presenter at the Kumasi Cultural Centre as part of Ghana’s 2019 Year of Return festivities and recorded original music with his students at the Cultural Links Music Studio in Accra, Ghana. He was the founder and co-director of the African American Male Leadership Program (AAMLP) at Diablo Valley College; a tenured board member of the California statewide community college organization, African American Male Education Network and Development (A2MEND); past Division Dean of Natural, Social, and Applied Sciences-Contra Costa College; and former Senior Dean of Instruction at Los Medanos College. Dr. Elliott finished his teaching career as a Professor of Music at Diablo Valley College where he taught the History of Hip-Hop Music and Culture, and Introduction to Social Justice. His recent books—Spirit, Rhythm, and Story: Community Building and Healing through Song, involves the power of music and music therapy toward healing communities; and Hip-Hop Music: History and Culture, the first e-textbook for Hip Hop Music instruction in the California community colleges.
Dr. Elliott currently completed his Sound Healing Certificate and now focuses his time and efforts working in the community to help with stress management, anxiety, depression, and male anger issues for Black Americans, through drum circles, sound healing treatments, podcast, and cultural lecture series.