Kathy Smith

Kathy Smith is the Senior Vice President, Human Resources for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. In this role, Kathy provides leadership and strategic direction to the human resources organization worldwide. She is also a member of the corporate Steering Committee.

Prior to joining the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., Kathy held various positions with Marriott International over an 18 year career, most recently as Senior Vice President, Talent Management and Organizational Capability. In this role, Kathy was responsible for Marriott's Centers of expertise in talent acquisition, performance management, training, compensation, workplace environment and organizational capability. Kathy was also the HR representative on the Marriott Service and Relationship Strategy group where she led the design and execution of key deliverables that impact service such as selection, orientation and service excellence training. In addition, as HR Generalist for two organizations within Marriott, Kathy worked with senior leaders on their development as well as the development of their teams.

Prior to joining Marriott, Kathy was a consultant for Towers Perrin, a human resource-consulting firm.

Kathy earned a Bachelor of Science Degree at the University of Delaware and an MBA from George Washington University. She serves on the University of Delaware's Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management Advisory Board, the Conference Board Human Resources Executive Committee and is a member of the Human Resource Planning Society.