Overview
Christie Smith, PhD, is a senior advisor in Heidrick & Struggles' San Francisco office and a member of the Leadership Development Practice. She has global expertise in leadership, culture, talent management, critical role strategy and skills, transformation—including technology and AI—workforce analytics and growth, workforce management, organizational structure, operations modeling, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Additionally, she is a bestselling author and keynote speaker.
Experience
Christie is the author of the national bestseller Essential: How Distributed Teams, Generative AI, and Global Shifts Are Creating a New Human-Powered Leadership, and founder of The Humanity Studio. She has over 35 years of experience advising the C-suite and founders of Fortune 1000 companies.
Christie has had global leadership positions at Deloitte, Apple, and Accenture. At Accenture, she led the global talent and organization consulting practice. As managing principal of Deloitte Consulting, she was responsible for the West Region consulting practice and for developing the Deloitte University Centers for Inclusion and Community Impact. Christie also led Deloitte’s life sciences practice, encompassing consulting, tax, risk, audit, and assurance services in the western region. Her leadership in inclusion and diversity at Apple was integral to the growth, development, and representation of female and underrepresented groups both internally and in product and retail solutions.
Christie speaks on business strategy, leadership and culture, diversity and inclusion, people analytics, the impact of workforce technologies, and the role of AI. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company, and on ABC News and CNN.
Education
Loyola Maryland, Bachelor of Arts
Rutgers University, Master’s Degree in Social Work
New York University, PhD in Clinical Social Work, Organizational Psychology and Culture focus
Awards
Thinkers50 Radar, Class of 2025
Fast Company, Queer 50 List, 2023 and 2021
Involve, Outstanding LGBT+ Executive Role Model, 2022
Top 50 Diversity Leader, 2020
Diversity Journal, Women Worth Watching in Leadership, 2013
San Francisco Business Times, Most Influential Women in Business, 2012-2014
Philanthropy and Service
Christie has worked with non-profit organizations in development and strategy, including Contentment Foundation, which focuses on global education and mental health strategies for children, the LPGA Foundation, which addresses pay equity in sports and the engagement of underrepresented girls in golf, Dress for Success, and Out & Equal.