Ms. Shayla Smith

District 7 Representative

Shayla Smith, MSW, LGSW, serves as the Program Manager for Community Engagement and Professional Development for the Barefield College of Arts and Sciences at The University of Alabama. In this role, she builds strategic partnerships between the university and community organizations to expand civic engagement, strengthen workforce readiness, and promote opportunities for experiential learning.

A licensed social worker with more than 16 years of experience in Alabama’s child welfare system, Shayla previously served in multiple leadership roles with the Alabama Department of Human Resources, including Senior Social Work Supervisor for Protective Services, Resource Development, and Independent Living Program coordinator. Throughout her career, she has worked comprehensively in the areas of child abuse and neglect investigations, ongoing services, foster care, and permanency planning to strengthen families, improve child safety outcomes, and prevent further harm.

At The University of Alabama, she also served as BSW Field Coordinator overseeing practicum education for undergraduate students and preparing future social workers for effective practice.  As the inaugural Chief Diversity Officer for the School of Social Work, she provided senior-level leadership in strategic planning, policy review, and community engagement initiatives.  In 2022, she was honored as Field Educator of the Year at the Alabama–Mississippi Social Work Education Conference.

Shayla currently serves on the Board of Freedom Farm, a licensed child‑placing agency supporting foster families, where she also works part‑time providing supervision and consultation to the agency’s social worker. In this dual capacity, she has played a collaborative role in developing operational policies and procedures, contributing to the development of competitive Requests for Proposals (RFPs), and assisting in securing state licensure for this emerging grassroots agency.