Elliott began his teaching career on the Navajo reservation in special education. He directed a school district transition program serving students with disabilities for 8 years and went on to direct the Human Rights Office for the City of Fort Collins where he led the Youth and Family Services committee for the Lambda Center in Fort Collins. He taught social justice classes at Naropa University for 6 years, and worked as a school principal both at a predominantly Latino elementary school, and at a progressive, experiential middle school. He founded The Sum in 2006 (www.thesum.org).

After James Fields drove his car into a crowd in Charlottesville VA, killing Heather Heyer and injuring 40 others, Elliott moved to Charlottesville, in a camper. Here he has started The Sum Study Center, to support people's learning and empowerment across the full political spectrum (Alt-right to Antifa). He partners with the Heather Heyer Foundation to create a youth program called Heyer Voices (www.heyervoices.org) Elliott founded an intentional community that represents a cross-racial, multicultural, interfaith and queer collaboration called Araminta Village. And he has established a faith community, and faith community model based on the "sacredness of welcome to all" called The Welcome Circle. He is currently writing a book entitled “Sex and Social Justice: Lost and Found at the Crossroads.”