Jamie Smith holds a Master's in Management and Leadership from Montreat College and a professional background in communications, organizational strategy, and marketing. She serves as a Chief Marketing Officer and as a business owner working as a strategic communications consultant and strategic marketing professional. That depth of experience shapes how she approaches board leadership: as a discipline of asking hard questions, making decisions grounded in evidence, and keeping the school's mission visible in every financial and governance conversation.

What brought her to NDS is more personal. She is the mother of two children who attend the school. One has been a student since Kindergarten and will graduate next year. That is the foundation of everything else.

She came to NDS because she found a school willing to do something most public institutions find genuinely difficult: choose to be different. The commitment to continual improvement, to a community that shows up and does real work, to questioning the status quo rather than inheriting it, earned her investment and still does. In an era of constant change, she believes out-of-the-box thinking is not optional. It is what the children in our care deserve.

Jamie has served as Board Chair since 2023 and is in the final stretch of her term. She is grateful for the work and for the people it has put her alongside: a volunteer board of changemakers and engaged community members and parents who give their time with real intention, and educators in the building who bring genuine thoughtfulness and creativity to their work every day. Finding a way to have a voice in what shapes children's lives in this community has been a privilege. She does not take it lightly.