Barb Smoot, H ’21

Barb Smoot

Trustee

Barb Smoot is the President & CEO of Women for Economic and Leadership Development (WELD), the organization that develops and advances women’s leadership to strengthen the economic prosperity of the communities it serves.  In this role, she serves as primary community liaison, overseeing fundraising, collaborative partnerships and development and implementation of WELD’s new strategic initiatives, including WELD’s national expansion.

Barb has a long track record of board and commission service in diverse roles and industries. She serves on the board of the Ohio Bar Liability Insurance Company, a member of the governance and audit committees.  Barb is a past board member and past Audit Finance & Risk Committee Chair of National Church Residences, the country’s largest not-for-profit provider of affordable senior housing and a national leader in supportive services with a footprint in over 310 communities and 25 states. As former commissioner on the Columbus Women’s Commission, Barb chaired the Gender Equity in the Workplace Committee, spearheading the development of the community strategy to build awareness of gender/racial pay gaps and measures to help eliminate them.  Barb has served on the Westerville Board of Zoning Appeals and on the boards of St. Joseph Montessori School Board, King Arts Complex and the former Nationwide Federal Credit Union.

A proven, versatile leader with prior executive roles in the insurance industry, Barb honed extensive experience in strategic planning, profit and loss center management, line responsibilities, product management and business development.  As Vice President of In-Retirement Business Development for Nationwide Financial, Barb, a past Fellow in the Society of Actuaries, led the development and implementation of IRA rollover strategies to retain customer assets from Nationwide’s nearly $100 billion Retirement Plans business segment and to attract new customers to the company.

Barb is Columbus Business First 2025 Women of Influence Business Woman of the Year.  She was the 2023 commencement speaker for Otterbein University’s graduate school, receiving an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.  Barb was the 2022 Ohio Dominican University commencement speaker, receiving the Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa.  Barb received the 2022 Nuestra Familia Award from the Ohio Latino Affairs Commission for her impact in Ohio’s Latino community.  She is a 2021 Otterbein University Honorary Alumna and a 2020 YWCA Columbus Woman of Achievement honoree. Barb was recognized as one of Columbus Business First’s 2024 Power 125 and 2019-2021 Power 100 and selected as Columbus CEO 2017 CEO of the Year for Small Nonprofits.

A former math and high school physics teacher, Barb is a graduate of Amherst College with a Bachelor of Arts in Physics.