Elliot B. Karp was born October 10, 1955 in Mineola, New York. Karp grew up in Long Island, New York. He received a bachelor's degree in political science from Stonybrook University and a master's degree from the Benjamin S. Hornstein Program in Jewish Communal Service at Brandeis University. Karp was Director of Financial Resource Development for over 15 years at the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, Ohio and Director of Leadership and Human Resource Development for six years at the Jewish Federation of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.