Expertise to help you achieve your mission.
Our team
Rebecca Smith
President and CEO
Rebecca Ruben Smith, Managing Director, is a management generalist who brings a broad perspective to all search activities. She has been conducting senior-level search assignments in nonprofit management, arts and entertainment, marketing, communications, and consumer businesses since 1985.
E.B. Smith, MAA
Managing Director
With over twenty years of experience as a consultant, artist, scholar, and facilitator, E.B. Smith has always approached his work with organizations large and small with a focus on developing strategies to eradicate oppressive practices within their work. His mission is to facilitate the cultivation and cooperation of leaders from every cross-section of our society and across cultural traditions.
Judith Frankfurt
Senior Consultant
Judith Frankfurt, Consultant for H C Smith Ltd, is a seasoned arts administrator with extensive involvement in performing and visual arts organizations. She works in the areas of executive search and recruitment, strategic planning, board development, budgeting and finance, human resources, artistic planning, and organizational development. She is skilled in fostering collegial teams for the success of mission-driven strategic growth.
Wendy-Marie Martin, PhD
Expert Consultant
For over twenty years, Wendy-Marie has worked as a director, arts administrator, dramaturg, and teacher/trainer in professional, non-profit, and academic theatrical forums, as well as in corporate settings. She holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Arts with a focus on intersectional feminist theatre, as well as a graduate certificate in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies from Ohio University, an M.F.A. in Playwrighting from Hollins University, and a certificate in DEI from Cornell University. Wendy currently serves as Chair of the Undergraduate Theatre Program at Hollins University. Wendy-Marie is also a published playwright whose work has been produced in Germany, The Netherlands, Australia, Japan, Ireland, and the United States.
Deborah Ashton, PhD, CDM
Expert Consultant
Dr. Ashton is a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategist with 30+ years of cross-industry experience. She headed DEI for Medtronic, Darden Restaurants, Harley-Davidson, Novant Health and Argonne National Laboratory. Dr. Ashton advised Boards on DEI. She is the former Chief of Test Development and Validation for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Jessica Watkin, PhD
Expert Consultant
Dr. Jess Watkin is a Blind artist-scholar working in Toronto, Ontario. She finished her Ph.D. at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Drama, Theatre, and Performance Studies with research focusing on Disabled artists and their approaches to creating performance, support, and, ultimately dramaturgy care inside art processes. She is a facilitator, educator, dramaturg, consultant, and friend.