Elaine S. Jackson is a native of Birmingham and attended public schools.  She completed her undergraduate studies at Alabama A&M University, in Normal, AL, where she earned a B. S. Degree and received her Masters in Public and Private Management (MPPM) from Birmingham Southern College, where her concentration was Public Sector Management.  Since joining the Urban League, Ms. Jackson has completed continuing education and leadership courses at the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Center for Urban Leadership, New York, NY; the Texaco Management Institute for Leadership Training, White Plains, NY; the Whitney M. Young School of Social Work at Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA; and the National Urban League's Project Lead, Memphis, TN.  She is also a graduate of Leadership Birmingham.  

Prior to joining the Birmingham Urban League in March of 1998, Ms. Jackson was employed with AmSouth Bank from 1978-1997 where she held various positions in Corporate Marketing and prior to her departure the position of Vice President and Community Services Manager in Corporate Contributions.

Ms. Jackson is a founding member and former Board officer for the Birmingham Education Foundation.  She is a member of Leadership Birmingham as well as a member and former regional officer of the Southern Region Association of Executives of the National Urban League.  Elaine was reappointed by Governor Riley, in February 2008, to the Alabama Workforce Investment Board.   She is listed in the 2006, 2008 and 2009 editions of Who's Who in Black Birmingham and was named the 2009 Alabama Black Achiever 'Nonprofit Executive of the Year'.  She is also listed in the 2011 edition of Who's Who in Black Alabama.