Nancy Smith joined Vera in June 2003. Currently, she directs Vera’s Center on Victimization and Safety and, in that role, oversees Vera’s work that addresses violence against women. From 2004 to 2009, she directed the Accessing Safety Initiative, a federally funded program that helps communities across the United States improve their response to women with disabilities and Deaf women who have experienced domestic violence, sexual violence, and stalking. Nancy not only led the provision of technical assistance for this program, but also was instrumental in assisting federal officials to redesign the grant program.

Prior to her work at Vera, Nancy directed a collaborative research and planning initiative to prevent family violence and worked with numerous communities across the country on research and policy initiatives designed to end homelessness.

Nancy trains on issues of domestic violence and sexual violence, collaboration, needs assessment, strategic planning, and capacity building. Nancy also has a long history of working on issues of housing and homelessness. From 2003 to 2004, she directed an initiative at Vera to help New York City officials understand why families become homeless and identify strategies to prevent homelessness. She has also worked with numerous communities across the country on research and policy initiatives designed to end homelessness and has a long history of working for women’s rights, including ending violence against women.

Nancy has a master's degree in women's studies with a concentration in feminist policy studies from the Ohio State University.