Grace College and Seminary, Winona Lake, Indiana, has appointed Christina K. Smith Associate Vice President of Strategic Advancement effective March 5, 2012.
Christina Smith
Smith’s responsibilities include cultivating new partnerships and building an expanded community of philanthropic leadership to advance strategic initiatives at Grace College.
“Christina brings a breadth and depth of successful leadership and institutional advancement experience to Grace College. She has a proven track record of mobilizing partnerships and marshaling resources to advance strategic initiatives in higher education that have a strong economic development impact,” commented John Boal, vice president of advancement at Grace College and Seminary.
“Christina’s well-established relationships across northeast Indiana and stellar experience building educational coalitions to increase college attainment and talent retention in the region will serve Grace well as it addresses critical issues of college affordability and increased access to high-quality Christian higher education in the cities of Fort Wayne and Indianapolis and other potential urban settings through the Weber School at Grace College,” stated Ron Manahan, president of Grace College and Seminary.
A Fort Wayne, Ind., native, Smith formerly served as executive director of Questa Foundation for Education. Under her leadership, the foundation significantly expanded its Questa Scholars college financial assistance program across northeast Indiana that has emerged as a national model for other communities.
Smith, a graduate of Huntington University and the University of Virginia, also is a Middle East expert who has served in a variety of governmental, humanitarian and educational roles in Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, the Palestinian territories and the Democratic Republic of the Congo over the last twenty years.
“Grace College is on the cutting edge nationally of providing students and families with a high-quality, affordable Christian college experience while also addressing critical workforce development and credentialing needs of the orthopedic industry critical to our region’s economic development. I am delighted to join a highly innovative and market responsive educational community that remains resolutely committed to its Christian heritage and calling,” said Smith.
