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Changemaker Spotlight: Shemitria Smith, Clark Atlanta University
- Shemitria Smith is the senior director of advancement operations at Clark Atlanta University where she manages development, advancement services, budget and finance, gift processing and reporting, and much more. Her journey started when her faith called her towards education. This fits in perfectly with her expertise in Raiser’s Edge NXT® where she has more than 16 years of experience.
- For someone who wishes to work in leadership roles in advancement operations, Smith suggests that first, they should understand the importance of all positions. Rather than treating work like a race, people should remember that it is a journey. Smith advises that it is important to develop patience, learn actual positions, keep growing, and never stop learning.
- Smith and her team in the advancement office constantly pivot to fulfill last minute requests. With a lot of requests for research and reports, the team makes sure they communicate with requestors to complete the job the right way in the first attempt. Smith emphasizes that in critical situations, communication is key.
- Social impact professionals can apply the principles set out by Smith in her book Flip the Script: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life to increase impact at work. Smith advises positively approaching work will help in creating an environment of kindness, love, patience, etc. This environment ensures that the mission of the organization has a lasting impact on the community.
- Smith is credited with being instrumental in transforming processes at Clark Atlanta University - more notably moving donations, ticket sales, event registrations from paper to online. She also helped in implementing training and an aggressive database cleanup. She partnered with everyone in the organization to take them along on this journey.
- Smith's major career accomplishment includes reviving a project after three years of dormancy and successfully launching and implementing a product resulting in over $1 million in scholarships awarded in the year of implementation.
- A senior director of advancement operations has to wear many hats. According to Smith, some of these include analyzing donor data, executing fundraising strategies, managing budgets, understanding tech and software solutions, managing grants, and staying up to date with policies and procedures. Furthermore, they have to be people-oriented and develop a culture of teamwork.
- Smith suggests that the most important qualities of a leader include good communication, kindness, and integrity. She advises being a team player and finding solutions, not just stating the problem.
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