Chief Administrative Officer
News that Andrea Smith would
But Smith, who joined a predecessor company to BofA nearly 34 years ago, says there is no better time to step away from her day job as chief administrative officer to focus more on her philanthropic work.
“I’d been talking to Brian” — BofA Chairman and Chief Executive Brian Moynihan — “for some time, and after having run [human resources] and been in HR, I felt like I wanted to go out when I wanted to go out and how I wanted to go out,” Smith said. “Too many people stay too long.”
Smith, 54, has been chief administrative officer since 2015, when Moynihan created the role for her. Her myriad responsibilities include corporate real estate, marketing, crisis management, business continuity, supplier management and diversity and inclusion.
She isn’t leaving Bank of America entirely. In the press release announcing her retirement, the company said Smith will be creating a bank-wide alumni council to connect the vast number of BofA retirees and former employees to the company, and engage them as clients, supporters and leaders in the communities in which they live. The council will launch this year and Smith will serve as its chair.
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Smith also plans to ramp up her longtime focus on increasing economic mobility for others, especially children. Smith and her husband, Sean, created a family foundation and endowed a scholarship that provides financial support to participants of the Carolina Youth Coalition, a nonprofit organization in Charlotte, North Carolina, that helps underserved children attend and graduate from college.
Since 2020, the fund — whose dollars fill in the gap between the total cost of attendance and students’ financial aid packages — has granted scholarships to 20 college-bound high school seniors.
Smith, who serves on BofA’s executive management team, said she believes she is leaving the bank in a better place and now wants to make sure she can make a difference in other areas.
“I’ve left a legacy here [and] I know I can still do good outside of the bank,” she said.
