Kenneth Smith

Strategic Partnerships LLC

Kenneth M. Smith is Chairman and Chief Executive of Strategic Partnerships LLC, a leading domestic and international solutions practice that helps universities, large non-profits, companies, and associations build government and private sector partnerships supported by highly creative and tightly executed strategic communications strategies to achieve client goals.

Mr. Smith also serves as President and CEO of Jobs for America’s Graduates, Inc. (JAG), the nation’s largest, most consistently applied model of dropout prevention and employment for at-risk and disadvantaged young people. In 1979, Mr. Smith worked with Governor Pete du Pont of Delaware on the design of the first statewide test of the JAG Model and has served as President and CEO since its inception. JAG currently serves 75,000 young people annually, in more than 1,400 locations in 39 states. Thirteen Governors serve on the Board of JAG, along with the Presidents of the National Urban League and the Society for Human Resource Management, and C-Suite executives from the Fortune 500.

In recognition of his knowledge of national employment and training issues, three Presidents have appointed Mr. Smith to national commissions:

  • President Reagan appointed him as Chairman of the National Commission on Employment Policy and to the Global Advisory Council of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
  • President Nixon appointed him as Vice Chair of the National Advisory Council on the Education of Disadvantaged Children.
  • President Ford appointed him to the National Advisory Council on Vocational Education.

Mr. Smith has served as staff aide to President Nixon; as Director of Special Projects for the Distributive Education Clubs of America; and founder and President of 70,0001 Ltd., a non-profit organization dedicated to helping high school dropouts obtain employment. Thereafter, he served in a new post as Chief Education Advisor to the Governor of Delaware on all activities related to education at the secondary and post-secondary levels. During this period, he chaired the Commission of the Future of Education in Delaware and was nominated to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Delaware Technical College.

Mr. Smith serves as a member of the JAG Board of Directors and as Trustee of the America’s Promise Alliance, founded in 1997 with General Colin Powell as Chairman and chaired today by Alma Powell. Mr. Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the School of International Science at American University. He resides with his wife, Nora, in Sarasota, Florida.