Abigail Smith has spent her entire career focused on improving quality, equity, and access in public education. She currently works as an independent consultant, supporting a range of education-focused organizations in advancing their missions through strategic planning, organizational development, program design, and executive coaching. Her clients span the non-profit, public, and philanthropic sectors. Abigail also co-leads the Seeding Disruption Fellowship in the District of Columbia, which builds knowledge, skills, and community across racial difference and professional fields, with a focus on disrupting systems of racial inequity that directly impact children and youth.

From 2012-14 she served as Deputy Mayor for Education in the District of Columbia. Under her leadership, the office of the Deputy Mayor launched a common application and lottery for charter and district public schools, undertook the first comprehensive revision of student assignment policies and school boundaries in over 40 years, developed and implemented a new student funding formula that directs additional resources to at-risk students, and oversaw the process for awarding former DCPS buildings to public charter schools.

Abigail previously served as the Chief of Transformation Management for the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). During her four years at DCPS, her diverse portfolio included strategic planning for the school district, early-childhood education, the Race to the Top program, school closures and consolidations, and the district’s SchoolStat performance management process.

Abigail spent 12 years with Teach For America, including running the Washington, DC office, overseeing pre-service training and ongoing support for all Teach For America corps members, and ultimately serving as Vice President of Research and Public Policy for the national organization. She began her career as a first-grade teacher in Weldon, North Carolina.