Since 2002, Stephan Smith has been the CEO of the Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD, www.ahead.org).  In his position with AHEAD Stephan directs the overall operations, public engagement, member services, funding, and external relations of the organization that currently serves over 4,000 institutional and individual members in 17 countries.  AHEAD has 40 US State and multi-state affiliate organizations.  From 2010 - 2014, Stephan was the executive officer of the Society for Disability Studies (SDS, www.disstudies.org); the largest academic society in the world dedicated to the advancement of disability studies as an academic discipline with over 400 members in 13 countries.

Recognizing that collaboration and contribution are keys to advancement for any good cause, Stephan invests heavily in serving on numerous boards of directors, advisory and executive committees, and steering councils for national and international organizations and programs that work to eliminate barriers to equity for disabled people in education and society.  In 2010 Stephan was appointed as a commissioner for the US Department of Education to address barriers related to accessibility of instructional materials in postsecondary education.  Other specific ‘hot topic’ areas of his involvement currently include:  postsecondary opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities; increasingly effective transition practices from secondary to postsecondary education and employment; and advancing postsecondary educations’ corporate understanding of disability and social responsibility.