DFW Leadership Series to Host Hannah Smith
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by
Leslie Horn
All are welcome to join us for this free event on Thursday, April 28th. The DFW Leadership Series hosts accomplished leaders from diverse industries across the Dallas/Fort Worth area who share experiences, insights, and inspiration on ethical and effective leadership principles. The series is sponsored by the Colleyville Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Hannah Smith is a Trustee for the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake and serves as Board Secretary. Governor Greg Abbott recently appointed Mrs. Smith to the state-wide Texas Commission on Virtual Education.
Mrs. Smith has spent two decades involved in high-profile litigation at top law firms and at the U.S. Supreme Court, serving as a senior attorney and legal spokeswoman. She worked directly for Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito and later advocated successfully for religious freedom, contributing to over 25 briefs and four landmark victories at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Mrs. Smith has received numerous awards for her leadership. She received BYU’s Alumni Achievement Award, the J. Reuben Clark Law Society’s Women-in-Law Leadership Award, and the Center for Constitutional Studies’ James Madison Award.
Mrs. Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of Neil Gorsuch and before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution. She has briefed policymakers at the White House, US Capitol, State Department, Heritage Foundation, Ethics and Public Policy Center, Federalist Society, American Bar Association, National Constitution Center, and Newseum.
She serves on the Board of Directors for the DFW Alliance for Religious Freedom and the Religious Freedom Institute based in Washington DC, as well as Senior Fellow at the International Center for Law & Religion Studies. She previously served on the Board of Advisers for her alma mater law school and as a board member of the Deseret News Editorial Advisory Board. She has spoken at regional religious freedom conferences in Texas, Arizona, Nevada, California, and Ohio with LDS Church leadership. She has also served on her Princeton University Alumni Class leadership team and the Woodrow Wilson School’s 75th Anniversary Steering Committee.
Mrs. Smith’s television, newspaper, and radio appearances include CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, C-Span, WSJ, Washington Post, AP, Forbes, NPR, and BBC. She has been on podcasts hosted by the National Constitution Center, Bloomberg BNA, and Federalist. Her opinion-editorials have appeared in US News & World Report, NY Daily News, Daily Signal, Fox News, NRO, SCOTUSblog, and Deseret News. She has also addressed audiences at Harvard Law, Princeton University, Stanford Law, Columbia Law, Penn Law, Georgetown Law, BYU Law, and Central European University.
Mrs. Smith graduated from Princeton University (majoring in public policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) and BYU Law School with honors and as a member of the Order of the Coif honors society. She was Law Review Executive Editor and research assistant for the International Center for Law and Religion Studies.
She has been featured in the videos: “Preserving Religious Freedom” and “Religious Freedom—Making a Difference.” She has book chapters in “Why I Believe,” “Lengthening Our Stride: Globalization of the Church,” and “Lawyer Leaders.”
Mrs. Smith served a full-time volunteer mission in France and Switzerland. She and her husband John live in Southlake with their four wonderful children.
Hannah Smith’s talk is entitled “Leadership for All Seasons: How to Lift Where You Stand.” The event will take place Thursday, April 28th at 7:00 pm at 500 W. McDonwell School Road in Colleyville. Click here to RSVP to the event on Facebook. Sign up here to receive more information about this and similar upcoming events, held monthly. Visit the Series on Facebook here.
Leslie Horn is a writer, editor, fashion stylist, and Media Specialist living with her husband and teenage son in the Colleyville Texas Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She has two children in college out of state.
