Kathie B. Smith is the director of the Division of Employment and Independence for People with Disabilities. She is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Certified Public Manager. 

Smith began her career in rehabilitation as a vocational rehabilitation counselor for DVRS in Pitt County. Over the past 25 years she has worked as a vocational rehabilitation counselor, vocational evaluator, adjunct professor, rehabilitation supervisor and specialist in public, private, medical and wellness settings.  

In 2008, Smith relocated to Raleigh and began serving as the Chief of Field Rehabilitation Services and Assistant Director for the NCDHHS Division of Services for the Blind, prior to her appointment as Division Director in March 2019.

Smith’s special interests lie in the pursuit of the principles of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and seeing the potential of that legislation being realized on behalf of those with disabilities in North Carolina.  

Smith has a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech-Pathology and Audiology and a Master of Science in Rehabilitation Counseling and Vocational Evaluation from East Carolina University. She was born in Richmond, VA and raised in eastern North Carolina.

In her free time she volunteers with the ALS Association and enjoys time with friends and family as well as walking and jogging outdoors in the beautiful North Carolina landscape.