Ralph Smith is the Senior Vice President of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a private philanthropy dedicated to help building better futures for disadvantaged children in the United States. The Casey Foundation was established in 1948 by Jim Casey, one of the founders of United Parcel Service, and his siblings, who named the Foundation in honor of their mother. The primary mission of the Foundation is to foster public policies, human-service reforms, and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of today’s vulnerable children and families. In pursuit of this goal, the Foundation uses its resources to help states, cities, and communities fashion more innovative and effective responses to these needs.

Mr. Smith was a member of the Law Faculty at the University of Pennsylvania from 1975 to 1997 and is Founding Director of the National Center on Fathers and Families and the Philadelphia Children’s Network. Mr. Smith joined the Foundation in 1994. Mr. Smith has spent the last decade working with foundations, civic organizations, public agencies, and school boards across the country on issues relating to education reform, child and family policy, and public sector systems change.