Ms. Florida Smith Ellis

Board Chair

Florida Smith Ellis is a community and church leader in Atlanta, where she has served as an FTE Trustee since 2003 and as a board member of Columbia Theological Seminary for more than 20 years. At Columbia, Ms. Ellis chaired the academic affairs committee for 17 years and was a member of the long-range planning committee that created Vision 2020, a strategic plan to guide the seminary’s future.

An active member of First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, Ellis has served two terms on its session and for seven years as clerk of the session. She is a Stephen Minister and Bible studies teacher, and recently co-chaired the congregation’s successful capital campaign. For the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, she has served as moderator, as chair of the presbytery council, and as commissioner to the General Assembly, in addition to her appointment on the board of the Outreach Foundation of the Presbyterian Church (USA). She is chair of the FCS Urban Ministries Board of Directors and previously held board appointments to the Georgia Conservancy, East Lake Commons, Renewal Ministries and Trinity School.

Ellis is a graduate of Hollins College with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and earned a master’s degree in business information systems from Georgia State University.