Keynote Speaker: Deanna Townsend-Smith, Ed.D.
Dr. Deanna Townsend-Smith has been working in education for over 20 years. In 2014, she earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership. She has worked and gained expertise in a variety of roles, including as a teacher, mentor, new teacher coach, administrator and, most recently, as the Director of Board Policy and Operations for the North Carolina State Board of Education. Prior to that role, Dr. Townsend-Smith served as the assistant director in the NC Office of Charter Schools. Deanna has a passion for education and has dedicated her life’s work to the field. Most of her career has been spent in North Carolina, where she resides with her husband and son. In her spare time, she enjoys spending quality time with friends and family, reading, and traveling.
In her capacity as Senior Director, Dr. Townsend-Smith advances and expands the current programmatic and policy efforts of the Flood Center in an effort to achieve its mission of addressing issues of systemic racism by advocating for structural changes in policy and practice to build an equitable education system that meets the social, emotional, and academic needs of NC’s diverse student population.