Debbie A. Smith Selected to be
Executive Director, Walter Kaitz Foundation
Washington , D.C. – Debbie A. Smith, a financial services executive with professional experience in minority affairs, national business policy, and trade association management, has been selected to serve as Executive Director of the Walter Kaitz Foundation, Glenn Britt, President of the Kaitz Foundation Board of Directors and Chairman and CEO, Time Warner Cable, announced today. Smith will join the Foundation on a full-time basis effective April 5.
Smith’s appointment completes the transition plan approved last fall by the Kaitz Board and the Board of Directors of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA). Under the plan, the Kaitz Foundation will operate under the administrative auspices of NCTA.
“Debbie possesses the perfect combination of diversity advocacy, management skills, and financial expertise to lead the Walter Kaitz Foundation into its next phase,” Britt said. “Her perspective on building diversity in American business will serve the Foundation well.”
“Debbie will provide strong leadership for the Walter Kaitz Foundation. She brings a wealth of diversity experience and will be a great addition to our industry,” said Robert Sachs , President and CEO, NCTA.
Smith will oversee the day to day management of the Kaitz Foundation, including the awarding of Foundation funds in support of cable industry diversity efforts, leadership of the annual Kaitz Foundation fundraising dinner in New York City , revamping and overseeing an industry diversity website, and development of a new cable industry national supplier diversity program.
Smith was selected following a nationwide search conducted by Isaacson, Miller of Boston.
Most recently, Smith served as Senior Vice President, Director of Diversity for Allfirst Financial Inc., a regional diversified financial services company, where she was responsible for the company’s efforts to make diversity a corporate objective, and was the company’s principle diversity spokesperson. Smith also has served as Vice President of the International Franchise Association; Executive Director of the National Association of Urban Bankers; Vice President of the National Association of Investment Companies; and as an Assistant Vice President at Riggs National Bank.
Smith also has worked as Staff Director for the U.S. House of Representatives Small Business Subcommittee on Minority Enterprise, Finance and Urban Development, where she focused on federal minority business development policy and was responsible for coordinating the subcommittee’s oversight investigations and hearings, supervising all staff activities, and serving as spokesperson for the subcommittee.
Smith is a native of Washington , D.C. , and holds an MBA from Howard University and a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary and Special Education from the Catholic University of America.
The Walter Kaitz Foundation is the cable industry’s national foundation dedicated to diversity.
NCTA is the principal trade association of the cable television industry in the United States . NCTA represents cable operators serving more than 90 percent of the nation's cable television households and more than 200 cable program networks, as well as equipment suppliers and providers of other services to the cable industry.
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