Photo by Kate Singh Jo Smith Leadership + Development Expert

Professional

Jo Smith is a business owner, consultant, writer, speaker, and coach.  She is the President of Jo Smith Associates, Inc. (JSA), which she founded to help successful firms grow their business by leveraging their most important asset - the strength of their people.

Ms. Smith has more than fifteen years' experience in professional services business development and management and a lifetime of experience in leadership and human relations.  She helps firms and teams work together more collaboratively to reach shared goals.  And she helps both teams and individual professionals use their talent and passion to market themselves, their services, and their firms.  Her client list includes law, accounting, consulting and real estate firms, the Multnomah
Bar Association and the University of Oregon School of Law. 

Prior to returning from Los Angeles to her hometown of Portland in 2001, Ms. Smith excelled in the following management roles at Drake Beam Morin, a world-wide human resources consulting firm:

• Managing Consultant, Los Angeles, managing business unit profitability and quality and leading a team of professional consultants and staff.  Ms. Smith led the office from underperformance to one of the firm's top performing offices in less than 18 months, significantly exceeding measures of profitability, client satisfaction, and employee satisfaction. 
• Project Director, U.S., directing multi-million dollar projects with multiple sites across the U.S.
• Center Manager, U.S., managing and delivering on-site services at client locations in Oregon, Texas, Washington, and California.

Ms. Smith earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing with high honors from Portland State University (PSU).  Faculty named her Marketing Student of the Year and she was an early inductee of Beta Gamma Sigma, the national honor society for business students.  She holds a Certificate in Human Resource Management and completed a 77-hour course in coaching in 2006.

Jo Smith is a Past President of the PSU Alumni Association and of the Oregon Chapter of the American Marketing Association.  She is a current member of the Institute of Management Consultants, the Oregon Business Association, and the City Club of Portland.

I am the proud mother of three successful adult children and four delightful young grandchildren.  They are the joy and the greatest achievements of my life.

• My son Austin, married to Ann, is a general contractor in Bend Oregon.  You can see examples of his extraordinary work at www.willisbuilt.com.  Ann recently started Willis Media Services and can be contacted at 541.389.3409.  You can learn about her media experience and services at www.willismediaservices.com.
• My son John is a writer and artist in Bend Oregon and the co-creator of the Facebook game In a Sentence.  You can reach him at 541.306.6950 for your commercial writing needs. 
• My daughter Cara and her husband Peter are public school teachers in Southern California.  Cara was named "Teacher of the Year" and is one of fewer than 10% of teachers with national certification.  Peter is the teacher whose former students visit when they come home from college.

When I am not working with my clients or spending time with my family, I like to drive open roads, hike scenic trails, walk new cities, meet interesting people and spend time with friends.   I love adventure, so occasionally I do something a little wild and crazy like jump from an airplane or take racecar driving lessons on Portland International Raceway.

Photo by Jo SmithMountain Gorillas, Rwanda 2007

While in Africa in October 2007, I hiked to 7,500 feet to visit Rwanda's famous mountain gorillas.  Along with seven other hikers and a guide, I spent time with a family of thirteen gorillas as they played, strutted, and foraged for food.  The experience was in short, surreal!