April 2024 Mag

Smith retired from the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) as the Assistant Commissioner and Georgia State Director for Adult Education and GED Testing in 2018. In this role she provided adult education training programs for an average of 69,000 Georgia citizens annually with a staff of over 1200 educators and support staff at 450 sites across the state. She was also responsible for the administration of all Georgia GED testing and supported local literacy action groups throughout Georgia. In addition, Smith served as 2015-17 Chair of the National Association of State Directors in Adult Education and has testified before the U.S. Senate HELP Committee representing the issues faced by adults with literacy challenges.

As an entrepreneur, Smith is also senior vice-president of The HR Group Inc., a management consulting firm she has co-owned with her husband, Stephen, for over 30 years. Her skill sets include demonstrated expertise in organizational effectiveness, business operations redesign and restructure, strategic planning, and crisis management. As a corporate manager, Smith spent 18 years in leadership positions with AT&T (Southern Bell) implementing innovative business processes during her tenure. During that time, she also served as a member of the 1994 AT&T Malcolm Baldrige Award winning team in the area of human resources. Prior to her corporate work, Smith spent several years as university administrator in varied capacities. She is a prolific motivational speaker in the areas of leadership and change management.

A long-term community volunteer, Smith is the founding Delta National President and serves on the board of D4 Women in Action, the first of its kind 501(c)4 social welfare and advocacy organization to be established under the umbrella of a Black Greek letter organization. She is a Life Member of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), where she serves as Co-Chair of the International Affairs Committee. Smith has served on the Bowling Green State University (BGSU-Ohio) Student Affairs Leadership Council and the Board of Directors of the Delta Research and Education Foundation (DREF). In addition, she chaired the Cobb County Board of Elections & Registration for eight years and served on varied community boards including the Cobb County United Way and Girls, Incorporated. She has been a Co-Chair for Leadership Cobb and served on the Board of Directors for Chattahoochee Technical College as well as on the Alumni Board of Directors for BGSU where she chaired its Strategic Planning committee.

A recipient of numerous honors and awards, Smith was a recipient of the Phoenix Award (2022), which is the highest honor an individual or group can receive from the mayor of Atlanta. She is also the recipient of the People Profile Lifetime Achievement Award (2022) and the Network Journal 25 Influential Black Women in Business Award (2021). In 2017 Smith was recognized as an Outstanding Georgia Citizen by the Office of the Secretary of State and named the 2020 Georgia Outstanding Individual by the Georgia General Assembly. In addition, she is the recipient of a U.S. Congressional Certificate of Special Recognition. Smith was named the LEAD360 business organization’s Executive of the Year for 2020-21 and was a UNCF Maya Angelou Women Who Lead Honoree in 2020. Her alma mater, Bowling Green State University, named her to the 2018 Class of the Academy of Distinguished Alumni and she was honored by the St. Louis Urban League/Urban League Guild with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. Recognized by the NW Georgia YWCA as a Woman of Achievement, she has been listed in both Who’s Who Among African Americans and Who’s Who in the Southeast. In 2006, she was named a “History Maker” by The HistoryMakers (thehistorymakers.com), a national African American historical registry which is housed in United States Library of Congress. She has also received numerous keys and proclamations from cities/states across the country.

Beverly and her husband, Stephen, have been married for fifty-one years. The Smiths have two married children: son Brian (Rashan Ali) Smith, daughter Stacy (Dr. Jason) Frazier, and five grandchildren.