Richard Smith II joined the School's faculty in June of 2025, adding to an already impressive almost 24-year career in the public service.
In his highly decorated and dedicated career in the federal public service, he has held several executive-level positions in various departments, agencies, and other organizations, including Shared Services Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada (APEX). Richard has experience in many transformational projects in those and other departments, ranging from network infrastructure to financial approval systems and even real property digital twinning.
Prior to joining the School, Richard was appointed as the first Chief Information Officer of APEX in 2023. In this position, he had a solid impact on the modernization of infrastructure, tools, and client services in support of business sustainability and innovation, which allowed for the APEX team to continue to deliver the highest quality of service and support to all Government of Canada executives from coast to coast to coast.
Richard also demonstrates a strong commitment to accessibility, reconciliation, equity, diversity, and inclusion and was one of the first-ever co-champions for ESDC’s Black Employees Network in 2022, is still an active speaker for the Visible Minorities Network at ESDC, and is a current, active member of the Black Executives Network’s Partnership and Stakeholder Engagement working group.
Coming to the School, Richard looks to further his career experience in facilitation with a more human-centric focus on leadership development and building up our public service.
Expertise
- Leadership
- Digital competence
- Innovation and transformation
- People management
- Accessibility, reconciliation, equity, diversity, and inclusion
- Project management
Credentials
- Bachelor of Science in Computing and Information Systems
(Athabasca University– In Progress)
