Claudia Smith

Claudia has been part of the Gustavson School of Business for over 15 years. She earned her PhD in Entrepreneurship and combines this with many years of work experience to deliver research and teaching on the leading edge of theory and practice. Claudia leverages her own entrepreneurial background to help students build their entrepreneurial mindsets and re-imagine their futures.

Claudia spent much of her career in the field of advertising working in client management roles with a number of advertising agencies across Canada. She worked with local, regional, national and international clients on close-to-the-ground and multi-million dollar campaigns. Claudia was responsible for overseeing all aspects of campaign development for large strategic clients, and for pitching new business. She sat at the executive and management tables at a number of ad agencies and was responsible for overseeing their operations and strategic direction. Her work was recognized through a number of industry awards.

Claudia has also held senior communications and corporate planning positions within BC’s provincial government. She was responsible for overseeing all of the communications activities for multiple ministries, leading strategic planning and launching major government initiatives. She was also actively engaged in issues and crisis management on behalf of her government clients.

Through a depth of experience gained from helping large and small organizations succeed, Claudia endeavours to create impactful classroom experiences for her students, and research that meaningfully extends theory and helps entrepreneurs. She is a member of the editorial board for the International Small Business Journal and the Journal of Alternative Finance. She is passionate about developing entrepreneurial minds and exploring entrepreneurial mindsets.