Rita Smith, BA
Rita Smith LLC
Rita began working as a crisis line advocate in a shelter for battered women and their children in Colorado in 1981. She has held numerous positions in Colorado and Florida since then in several local domestic violence and sexual assault programs and state coalitions, including Program Supervisor and Director. She was the Executive Director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence for nearly 22 years. Rita has served on 2 local board of directors, as well as ex-officio board member as executive director of a national non-profit. She has been interviewed by hundreds of newspaper reporters, appeared on many local and national radio and television news shows, including the Washington Post, USA Today, People Magazine, NPR, The Today Show, Good Morning America and Oprah Winfrey Show. She has co-authored several articles and chapters for books including a manual for attorneys working with domestic violence victims in Colorado, and an article on child custody and domestic violence published in the fall of 1997 in The Judges Journal (an American Bar Association publication). She currently is a Senior Adviser for the National Football League on their efforts to end violence against women and is Executive Vice President of External Relations for domesticshelters.org. She believes that advocacy and social change are intricately connected and cannot be done separately.
