A native North Carolinian, Elizabeth earned both an undergraduate and a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has demonstrated her commitment to the children and families of her community through her service as president of the Junior League of Wilmington, as a member of the New Hanover County Council of PTA’s Executive Board, and as a member of the Board of Directors of Port City Community Church. Elizabeth is the former Chair of the New Hanover County Democratic Party and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Child Development Center and the North Carolina Foundation for Public School Children. Elizabeth was elected to serve on the New Hanover County Board of Education in 2008. She was presented with The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, the nation’s most prestigious honor for public servants, in May 2011 for standing up against racial segregation in school redistricting plans. Elizabeth was celebrated in May 2012 as a Woman of Achievement by the YWCA of the Lower Cape Fear for the positive impact her public service has made on her community. She and her husband, Jamie, of twenty-three years are the proud parents of three children: Zach, Austin, and Kate. Zach is a junior at NC State University majoring in Biomedical Engineering. Austin is a freshman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill majoring in Mathematics. Their youngest, Kate, is a sophomore at John T. Hoggard High School.