garret_leadershipGarrett Smith, Managing Director

Garrett brings to DMC a combination of experience in management and education.  As Managing Director, Garrett leads consulting projects across several areas including human capital, strategic planning, special education, and stakeholder engagement.  In these projects, he works closely with district leadership teams to implement best practices and drive continuous improvement.  In addition, Garrett has authored several articles in The District Management Journal and facilitates leadership development sessions with DMC’s member districts.

  DMC Project Experiences Include:
  • Working with a 40,000 student district to build an accountability plan, including the implementation of a new teacher evaluation system.
  • Leading a Special Education Opportunities Review with a 15,000 student district to help increase student achievement for struggling students while increasing cost effectiveness.
  • Working with a 25,000 student district to establish clear performance targets and priorities that turn strategic initiatives into action and results.
  • Designing and managing DMC’s District Management Institute, a leadership development program in a 55,000 student district that focuses on the achievement of an outcome-oriented performance goal with the support of professional development, executive coaching, and district peers.

Other Professional Experiences Include:

  • Consultant for Bain & Company, a leading international management consulting firm, across a wide variety of industries and practice areas, including marketing & growth strategy, strategic planning, and change management.
  • Consultant to the Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development at the U.S. Department of Education where he worked on K-12 policy issues and helped to develop a $5 billion college grant program.
  • Project Manager with Baltimore City Public Schools and as a Consultant to the National Math and Science Initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to scaling up proven programs in math and science education.

Publications Include:

  • Authored several articles in The District Management Journal, including Bringing Innovation to Education; Rethinking Budget Rationalization in Fairfax County Public Schools; Bringing Effective Professional Development Tools Online

Education:

  • BA in Math and Economics from Williams College
  • Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School
  • MBA from Harvard Business School, Dean’s Award winner for contribution to the school community