About our founder and CEO

Jerry Thomas Smith is our Founder, Volunteer Chairman, and CEO. He brings leadership experience across global technology, retail channel operations, and financial services, plus a 30-year obsession with photography.

He recently completed 15 years as a Senior Advisor at Dell Technologies, leading complex services programs across major retail and distribution partners in the U.S. and Canada, including Best Buy, Costco, and Walmart. His scope included supply chain & logistics, contract execution, regulatory requirements, partner management, repair operations and parts, quality control, advanced resolution, and performance reporting, in close partnership with Legal, Finance, Accounting, Merchandising, Marketing, and Operations. He also held roles as a Retail Account Manager at Dell, managing multiple North American consumer retail accounts and building account strategies based on market dynamics, pricing, competition, and growth potential.

Earlier in his career, he held sales leadership roles at AIG and GEICO, where he recruited, trained, coached, and managed high-performing teams, implemented performance development plans, and led formal review and appraisal processes.

He served in the U.S. Navy as an Air Traffic Control Supervisor with a Secret clearance, responsible for FAA and military air traffic control procedures, airfield operations, and supervision and training of personnel.

As a professional photographer, he specializes in portrait, landscape, and macro photography, with a particular focus and passion for creating portraiture of shelter animals and rescues.