Chanel N. Smith

Philanthropy Operations Associate

Chanel N. Smith is an organizational and workforce systems leader with more than 20 years of experience across nonprofit, healthcare, and corporate environments. She strengthens organizational infrastructure, develops leaders, and builds partnerships that connect human potential to meaningful opportunity and lasting community impact.

Her leadership is informed by her integrated framework connecting human development, learning, talent, workforce, and economic development. Grounded in the belief that every person has potential, her approach recognizes identity, purpose, and belonging as foundations for growth and aligns investment in people with organizational capacity and community well-being.

Chanel has led multi-portfolio divisions in publicly funded and compliance-driven environments, guiding organizational change and aligning strategy, performance accountability, and fiscal stewardship. She connects internal systems that help teams succeed with external pathways to quality employment and economic mobility.

At the heart of her work is a commitment to service and the spirit of philanthropy: giving time, talent, and treasure to help others flourish. She brings this ethic of care and shared responsibility to her leadership, partnerships, and stewardship.

Chanel earned her MBA through Loyola University Chicago’s Baumhart Scholars program, deepening her focus on ethical leadership, systems design, and strategy at the intersection of profit and purpose.