Ahnna Smith is the Executive Director for the DC Workforce Investment Council (WIC), the District of Columbia’s local and state workforce development board. Prior to joining the WIC, she served as the Interim Deputy Mayor and Chief of Staff in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education, where she oversaw the District’s education agencies, including the state education agency, local education agencies, parks and recreation department, the public library, and DC’s public university.
Prior to joining the Bowser Administration, Ahnna served in the Obama Administration as the Chief of Staff for the Office of Innovation and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education, where she provided strategic leadership in policy and operations, personnel, and external communications, for the more than 25 programs and initiatives within the office. Ahnna also served as the Executive Director of Teach For America in the Washington, DC region, where she managed the staff and operations that trained and supported more than 250 teachers in DC and Prince George’s County, Maryland. Ahnna previously worked in teacher recruitment, preparation, and development in the United States and the United Kingdom. She began her career as an elementary school teacher in Miami-Dade County Public Schools after earning a degree in government and politics, magna cum laude, from the University of Maryland, College Park.