Jennifer Smith Turner

Non-profit executive and author Jennifer Smith Turner was born on November 3, 1952 in Boston, Massachusetts to Margaree and Herman Smith. She received her B.A. degree in English from Union College in Schenectady, New York in 1974; and her M.A. degree in 1987 from Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Turner joined Travelers Insurance Company in Hartford, Connecticut after graduating from Union College in 1974. She became an assistant manager for the City of Hartford in 1984. Turner was later hired by Aetna Life & Casualty, where she held several leadership positions, including assistant vice president of staffing and corporate human resources, vice president of occupational managed care, chief of staff, and chief operating officer. In 1996, she was hired as vice president of medical management for the BerkleyCare Network. In 2000, she served one year as CEO and president of Practicare, Inc. before returning to government service in 2004 as deputy commissioner for the State of Connecticut’s Department of Economic and Community Development. In 2007, Turner was hired as CEO of the Girl Scouts of Connecticut, where she worked for five years. Subsequently, in 2016, Turner served as interim president and CEO of Newman’s Own Foundation where she continued her role both as s board member and as CEO until 2020. From 1999, Turner also founded Smith & Associates, her own management consulting firm.

An acclaimed writer, Turner is the author of several books, including Perennial Secrets, Poetry & Prose (2003), Lost and Found, Rhyming Verse Honoring African American Heroes (2006), and Child Bride (2020). The latter won the NYC Big Book Award, the Story Circle Network’s Sarton Award for Historical Fiction, and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association’s Best E-Book Award.

During her career, Turner has served on many boards, including Martha’s Vineyard Bank, the University of Hartford, the Greater Hartford Arts Council, the Foundation for Mental Health, the Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Hartford Stage, St. Francis Hospital, the University of Connecticut, Connecticut Public Television, the Connecticut Golf Foundation, Hartford College for Women, St. Joseph’s College, and United Way of the Capitol Region.

Her honors include being named among the NAACP’s 100 Most Influential Blacks in Connecticut in 2010, appearing in Hartford Business Journal’s Eight Remarkable Business Women list the same year, receiving the BRAVA Award from the YWCA of Greenwich in 2011, and being awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Hartford in 2016.

Jennifer Smith Turner was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on June 12, 2023.