CAROLYN SMITH, CPA, MBA, CRMA

Carolyn Smith, CPA, MBA, CRMA has led the Columbus City Schools’ Office of Internal Audit since September 2009. During Ms. Smith tenure, she was recognized by Auditor of State Dave Yost as a Tax Payer Hero for her commitment to ethics and integrity in finding the truth regarding the data scrubbing case. According to Auditor Yost, “her cooperation was invaluable to investigators, students and the citizens of Columbus.”

Ms. Smith has spearheaded a change management effort in the Office of Internal Audit (OIA) which has resulted in the goals of the OIA aligning with and directly supporting the goals of the District. Under Ms. Smith’s leadership, the District underwent its first Enterprise Risk Management assessment and the District’s management is actively mitigating weaknesses identified during the assessment. Other major accomplishments include the establishment of the District’s third-party managed anonymous fraud reporting system, the establishment of the District’s whistleblower policy and reorganizing the office to gain greater efficiencies while providing audit services.

On July 1, 2019, Ms. Smith was appointed to serve a five-year term on the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). Ms. Smith, along with her six GASB colleagues establish Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) over financial accounting and reporting for all state and local governments throughout the United States.

Ms. Smith is a Board of Director for the Association of Local Government Auditors (ALGA). Prior to her board appointment, Ms. Smith served on the Advocacy Committee of ALGA where she participated in the drafting of the Audit Committee Guidance brochure and advocated for the independence, establishment and maintenance of various government audit functions throughout the United States and Canada.

Ms. Smith is active with the Council of the Great City Schools Internal Audit Group. In 2016, Ms. Smith participated in the drafting of a white paper entitled “Internal Auditing in the Great City Schools”. The white paper was presented and well received at the 2017 Council of the Great City Schools Annual Conference.

Ms. Smith is a sought after conference speaker. Ms. Smith has presented at the ALGA annual conference, the Council of the Great City Schools conference and other professional conferences.

Prior to joining the Columbus City Schools, Ms. Smith created the compliance audit function for the Council of Aging of Southwestern Ohio. Ms. Smith also served as the Director of Audit and Business Services.

Ms. Smith is a graduate of Ohio University, Franklin University and a proud graduate of Columbus Central High School, Home of the Pirates.

Professional memberships include the Ohio Society of CPA’s, Association of Local Government Auditors, Association of Government Accountants, the Institute of Internal Auditors, and the International Association of School Business Officials.