Carole I. Smith, a 2002 Women of Color Technology Awards Special Recognition honoree, is reported to have died last Monday. Smith, 67, passed from complications related to pancreatic cancer. Her daughter Narissa Wallace, who is married with two children, survives her.
In addition to her many titles and roles, Smith was the Philadelphia coordinator for Black Family Technology Awareness Week, representative of her passion to bridge the digital divide. She launched DigitalSistas dot net in 2001. The year she began her battle with breast cancer.
As executive director of the Mayor's Telecommunications Policy Advisory Commission of Philadelphia, she was dubbed the "Technology Lady" in city government. She developed and implemented several programs through Workforce 2000: Telecom & technology Fairs; a Computer Training Center that was designated an AT&T Learning Network for West Philadelphia Empowerment Zone residents; a faith-based Technical Training program for unemployed and underemployed adults, and a cable television program she produced and hosted from 1997 to 2000.
Smith’s life will be celebrated at a memorial service to be held at 10 a.m. Sat. Jan 23 inside the Community College of Philadelphia’s Bonnell Building auditorium on 17th Street between Callowhill and Spring Garden streets. The internment will be private. In lieu of flowers, Smith’s family requests that any display of sympathy be sent to a scholarship named in her behalf that honors literacy:
Carole I. Smith Scholarship Fund / GPUAC (Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition)
1207 Chestnut Street, 7th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Checks should be made to payable to “GPUAC / Carole I. Smith Scholarship Fund.” For more information contact the Mayor’s Commission on Technology at 215.686.8150.
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