About Your Host

(photos, left to right: on air in the studio; backstage at an awards show; with Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP Americas)

There are only a handful of people in this country who have received three Ivy League graduate degrees including a Ph.D. with a strong fellowship record.  Dr. Rebecca Blacksmith is one of the very few that incorporated sacrifice, discipline, and intellectual curiosity to achieve that distinction.

Dr. Rebecca Blacksmith received all three of her Ivy League graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D. in Political Science, M.G.A./M.P.A. at the Fels Institute of Government and an M.A. in Political Science). She currently holds the title of Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and has previously held the titles of Bradley Fellow, Earhart Fellow, Fox Distinguished Graduate Fellow, Mumford Fellow, and PRRUCS Fellow.

She has traveled twice to The White House at the request of a Director of a White House Office to present her research to him on non-profits and national public policy.

Routledge Press released her book, The Politics of Foster Care Administration in the United States (2015), and described it as “using examples from foster care systems . . . she eloquently combines a rigorous methodology and theory work to expose the conditions under which foster care outcomes can be improved.”  These findings have also been presented to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

She served as a Head Teaching Assistant and Instructor for one of Penn’s most famous faculty, the former White House Senior Advisor John DiIulio. In addition to teaching for one of his groundbreaking Ivy League leadership classes, she has conducted over 200 speaking appearances for organizations on topics ranging from leadership to philanthropy/community service.  Working as a grant manager for a top ten foundation, she was able to champion philanthropic performance measurement and Return On Investment community service.

Her greatest joy is in “fostering” and mentoring three inner-city siblings for over two decades, which she now is blessed to do with her husband, also a business owner and media personality.