Karen Smith joins The Shelter Board of Directors

Karen Smith recently joined the Board of Directors of The Shelter for Abused Women & Children. A full-time Naples resident, Smith moved to the community in 2004 with her husband, F. Samuel Smith, Past Chairman, The Shelter Board of Directors

Smith brings to the board expertise in financial services and nonprofit agencies. She held positions with A. G. Becker, Inc. in Chicago and New York City before joining R. Gilder & Co., New York.

She married and raised three children while living in Brussels, Tokyo and Seoul, where she volunteered for three years at the Holt Adoption Agency before adopting her Korean daughter there. After moving to Connecticut in 1981, Smith served on the YMCA Board of Directors which founded the Children’s Centers day care facilities. In 1997, she accepted a position as Assistant to the President and Board Chairman of TechnoServe, an international not-for-profit organization developing agricultural cooperatives into businesses in Latin American and Africa.

“Karen’s financial experience and her work with nonprofit agencies, both domestic and international, make her an exceptional addition to our board of directors,” says Linda Oberhaus, Executive Director of The Shelter. “We are extremely pleased and grateful for her willingness to serve.”