Liz Sears Smith
Liz Sears Smith is the Managing Director of Kent Strategies. She brings more than 25 years of management and strategic planning experience bridging the private and public sectors, helping clients build partnerships, cultivate connections and manage their profile.
Liz served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy White House Cabinet Secretary, managing key issues between the Cabinet and senior White House staff. In this role, Liz managed day-to-day policy development and problem solving on a large range of issues.
As Chief of Staff for former Congressman Rahm Emanuel, Liz set up and managed all operations. On a daily basis she worked closely with public and private sector constituencies. Her operation was always singled out as one of the most efficient and effective on the Hill.
As Deputy Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of Commerce, Liz managed a division of The U.S. Commercial Service. She reinvented her division in the face of outside competition. While there, Liz spearheaded a new e-commerce strategy, just one of her many accomplishments. She participated in various senior level conferences on globalization and trade issues, and she led several business development missions. Liz helped create unique opportunities for US companies, which saw their export sales more than quadruple under Liz’s leadership.
Liz is a member of the Public Policy Committee for Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. She serves on the Leadership Council for the Impact Center, a leadership and mentoring non-profit and on the board for the Illinois Group, a Washington-DC based organization comprising corporate, non-profit, government and other Illinois interests. Additionally, she served on the selection panel for the White House Fellow’s Program and is a member of Northwestern University’s Council of 100.
Liz is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and received her MBA from the JL Kellogg Graduate School of Management.