Virgil L. Smith

Virgil L. Smith is the Principal Consultant of the Smith Edwards Group, LLC. Smith started the consulting firm in October 2015 after retiring from the Gannett Company, where he worked for 24 years as a president and publisher and corporate HR executive focused on talent development, talent acquisition, talent management and diversity. Prior to joining Gannett, Smith spent 20 years with the McClatchy Company, where he held a number of executive positions. He counts hundreds of professionals he has assisted with managing and achieving their career and life goals.

He continues to be involved with diversity and leadership issues serving on the FOX News Workplace Professionalism and Inclusion Council and is a consultant and career coach for the Asian American Journalists Association Executive Leadership Program, and he serves as Executive in Residence for the Maynard 200 Advanced Leadership Program. He also serves on the journalism advisory boards for Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communications at Florida International University, the Mayborn School of Journalism, at the University of North Texas and the Global School of Global Journalism and Communication at Morgan State University.

Smith earned his Bachelor of Science and Master’s degree from the University of San Francisco and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of North Carolina, Asheville.