Zakiya Smith

Strategy Director
Lumina Foundation for Education
Indianapolis IN
Biographical Sketch:
Ms. Zakiya Smith is currently a Strategy Director at the Lumina Foundation, the nation's largest foundation dedicated solely to higher education. At Lumina, she leads the work of the foundation to develop new models of student financial support for higher education, focusing on issues of affordability. Prior to her work in philanthropy, Ms. Smith served as a Senior Advisor for Education at the White House Domestic Policy Council, where she was tasked with developing President Obama's higher education policy. Earlier in her career, she worked directly with students in various capacities across the k-12 system, and her goal is to always bring those insights to her current work.