Deidra Smith serves as the Director of Alumni and Family Engagement at Davidson College.  Deidra brings more than ten years of experience in alumni relations work, including managing identity-based affinity efforts, volunteer management, strategic planning, and philanthropy education. However, her true passion is event planning - throughout her tenure as a higher education professional, she has managed over 200+ on campus and regional events for alumni including homecoming and reunion weekend programming, alumni award ceremonies, presidential tributes, graduation programming, affinity reunions and network events. Deidra thrives on tackling the most complex of projects and understanding the need for innovative and adaptive leadership to be industry leading. Deidra graduated from Appalachian State University with a degree in organizational communication. She earned a master’s degree in college student affairs administration from the University of Georgia. Deidra is a native of Raleigh, NC, and in her spare time, she enjoys practicing yoga and spending quality time with her two nephews.