Larry Smith

Larry is Founder & President of Leading Edge Advisory Firm (LEAF LLC), a consultancy that he founded in 2009. LEAF helps academic, non-profit, for-profit, and faith-based organizations improve their efficiency and effectiveness in areas including, but not limited to: Board Development, Feasibility Studies, Strategic Planning, Organizational Development & Effectiveness, Fund Development, Market Research and Analysis, Leadership Development, and Succession Planning.

Beginning his career at Cummins Inc., Larry acquired experience in a variety of leadership positions, most recently as Director of Corporate Strategy. He has served as Senior Vice President of Organizational Advancement & Strategic Planning with the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis, Director at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, and Deputy Director of Civil Society Programs for Hudson Institute. Larry is the former Managing Director of Indiana University’s Randall L. Tobias Center for Leadership Excellence, which seeks to transform the practice and theory of leadership across sectors.

Larry has received many honors, some of which include: the Indianapolis Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40” award, “Indy’s Best & Brightest Award” from Junior Achievement, named to the inaugural class of NextGen Fellows by American Express and Independent Sector and was selected for the 2010 class of Hoosier Fellows at the Tobias Leadership Center. Larry also has served as a board member for more than a dozen organizations.

An ordained minister, Larry serves as an Associate Pastor at New Direction Church. He is the proud parent of three exceptional children and a wonderful son-in-law. He is also a grandfather of one. Larry earned a BA from Williams College, where he was a Lehman Scholar, and an MS from Stanford Business School, where he was a Sloan Fellow.