Laurie Todd-Smith, a graduate of Mississippi State University, will operate in a leadership role in the Trump administration.
Todd-Smith has been appointed to be the next assistant secretary for early childhood development at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In her new role, Mississippi State alumna will lead the nation’s Office of Head Start and Office of Child Care, guiding programs that support early learning and care for millions of children and families across the country.
Prior to this appointment, she served in Washington, D.C., as the director at the America First Policy Institute’s Center for Education Opportunity.
This marks Todd-Smith’s second appointment under President Donald Trump’s reign in the White House, previously serving as U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau director.
A Phoenix, Ariz., native, Todd-Smith has lived in the Magnolia State for more than 25 years. She earned her doctorate in education at Mississippi State, where she also taught undergraduate courses with the College of Education and served as the director of State Programs at the university’s Early Childhood Institute.
She boasts educational experience spanning three decades from classroom teaching to heading former Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant’s educational policy team.
