Mrs. Elizabeth Poythress

Elizabeth is a true southern gal.  She was born in Louisiana where her father was a Station Manager for Delta Airlines.   Delta moved the family from Louisiana to stops across the South, including many years in Georgia where her father retired from the company.

Elizabeth attended college as a working adult and successfully received her B. S. degree in Management from Shorter College and her M. S. in Human Resource Management from Troy State University.  Elizabeth is a Certified Mediator in the State of Georgia and serves on a panel of mediators for Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) cases.

Elizabeth has spent her life working with people.  She worked in the field of Human Resources for about 25 years with positions of increasing responsibility until she retired in 2001.  She has been certified by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) as a Lifetime Senior Professional in Human Resources.

After retirement from the corporate world, Elizabeth has volunteered her time extensively.  Her long time dedication to the GA SHRM State Council included service as Chairman, Legislative Director, Certification Director, and she is currently a District Director.  In addition, she has served on the Board of Directors for the United States Pan Asian-American Chamber of Commerce for the Southeast Region and the Southeast Region of UNICEF.

As First Lady of the Georgia National Guard, while David was Adjutant General, Elizabeth was very involved with the families of the soldiers and airmen - both deployed and at home.  She continually stressed the importance of volunteerism and reaching out to others to give a helping hand.  She worked with the Family Support Program throughout the state.

Internationally, Elizabeth participated in the State Department's Partnership for Peace Program - traveling to the Republic of Georgia on numerous occasions - working with the U. S. Embassy in Tbilisi and Georgian universities and orphanages.  Since David's retirement from the National Guard, she has continued her work with the "other" Georgia through their Embassy and the Sister Cities Atlanta-Tbilisi Program and is active in David and Elizabeth's church, Peachtree Road United Methodist Church.

As First Lady of Georgia, Elizabeth's priorities will focus on Georgia's youth.  She plans to be active in developing and implementing programs to address and improve our state's drop-out rates, to reduce the number of homeless youth and to stem the rising rates of teen pregnancy.

According to Elizabeth, "Georgia is a great state in which to live, work and raise a family.  Sadly, too many of our youngest Georgians face an uncertain future.  I will continue to work to support organizations that help our children and will work to create a bright future for each family across the state!"

Elizabeth and David have been married for 13 years, and together they have three grown children and eight fantastic grand children - who are growing up way too fast!