Leadership

Christina K. Smith
Founder and President
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Christina K. Smith is Elevate’s founder and chief visionary and serves as its president and CEO.

Christina is an accomplished humanitarian leader and Middle East and Central Asian foreign policy expert. She is recognized for her expertise in the social and political rehabilitation of highly traumatized societies and has served as an adviser and consultant in numerous post-war countries suffering the aftermath of massive war crimes.

Christina is a gifted peace builder who has helped to foster peace and reconciliation in Kuwait, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan.

After September 11, 2001, she served as a humanitarian leader and resource mobilizer in Afghanistan, conducting a comprehensive national needs assessment and advised dozens of governmental and non-governmental organizations on a myriad of strategic initiatives to rebuild the country’s political, social and educational infrastructure.

A tireless and highly effective advocate for the vulnerable, Smith is an accomplished relationship builder and resource mobilizer. During her nearly seven years serving in Afghanistan, she founded a faith-based international humanitarian organization that mobilized global strategic partnerships in 26 countries spanning North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia and marshaled millions of dollars in private resources to advance education, literacy, health care and civil society initiatives to strengthen the Afghan people’s capacity to return to self-sufficiency.

A passionate champion of liberty and advocate for human rights and educational and economic opportunity for women, Christina remains involved in promoting educational initiatives in Afghanistan and promoting peace building efforts in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo.

Christina now engages her boundless energy, extensive community development experience, leadership skills, entrepreneurial spirit and passion for the marginalized as founder and president of Elevate, a highly innovative and strategic transformational development organization that mobilizes and engages local volunteers and global partnerships to foster vibrant communities among the most vulnerable.

A highly sought after, inspirational public speaker, Christina is passionate about freedom, faith, foreign policy and friendship. She is an avid kayaker, sports enthusiast and enjoys investing herself in mentoring young adults and teaching foreign policy to college students.