Ralph Smith is Senior Vice President of the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the managing director of the Campaign for Grade Level Reading, an effort to increase rates of third grade reading proficiency for children from low-income families that includes a network of than 160 Campaign communities in 42 states, over 200 local Funders and more than 50 civic and private sector partners. Smith has been active in philanthropy for over two decades, during which he has served on the boards of the Council of Foundations, the Foundation Center, Venture Philanthropy Partners and the Wells Fargo Regional Foundation. Previously, Smith taught Corporations and Securities Law and Education Law and Policy as a member of the Law Faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, during which time he also served as a Cabinet Officer for the School District of Philadelphia (1983-90) and as a senior advisor to Philadelphia’s mayor (1990-94).