2025 Virginia Black Business Leaders Awards: Myra Goodman Smith

Last July, Smith announced her plans to retire in 2025 after 15 years at the helm of LMR, which among other programs offers an annual leadership training course known as Leadership Quest. A Richmond native, Smith spent more than two decades at United Way and is immediate past chair of the Jenkins Foundation, which funds health care equity grants.

FIRST JOB: Community and economic planner at Planning District 15 in Farmville

MOST MEANINGFUL JOB: In the late ’80s at United Way, I staffed the Greater Richmond AIDS Impact task force. Through our inquiry, service gaps were identified, and one was financial assistance for individuals living with HIV. We created the AIDS Emergency Fund, which I developed and managed.

WHY I CHOSE MY PROFESSION: I have been fascinated by leaders since I was a kid. Their stories and biographies drew me — learning of their journeys, challenges and how they led inspired me to read and learn more. As a teen, serving on advisory councils and as an intern for city council members, I had close exposure to the new historical leadership of our city.

THE MOST IMPORTANT ADVICE MY MENTOR GAVE ME: I cannot pinpoint specific advice, but one of my mentors had helped and supported me when I doubted myself and my ability to move forward. She has been a role model and probably doesn’t realize the impact she has made, my mentor Eva Teig Hardy.

FAVORITE PLACE I’VE TRAVELED: Montgomery, Alabama. Its historical presentations of my descendants’ past are etched forever.

HOBBIES: Collecting primitive antiques. My family has lived in Amelia County since the early 1800s, and most of my pieces are from my descendants.