Bernadette Smith is a seasoned education leader and innovator with over 25 years of experience spanning Ontario’s three largest school boards. As Superintendent of Innovation and Research at the Peel District School Board, she has spearheaded transformative digital learning strategies, educator capacity-building, and inclusive pedagogies that serve a diverse student body of over 150,000.

She began her career in frontline education—as a teacher at Maples Collegiate and Assistant Director of the WayFinders program within the Seven Oaks School Division—before moving into system-wide leadership roles. Bernadette holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Winnipeg and earned a Child and Youth Care Certificate from Red River College.

A proud Indigenous leader of Anishinaabe and Métis heritage raised in Winnipeg’s North End, Bernadette is a tireless advocate for social justice, missing and murdered women’s families, and community mental health. She co-founded the Manitoba Coalition of Families of Missing and Murdered Women and the Drag the Red initiative, and has contributed to tools and media focused on Indigenous resilience.

In 2016, she received the Order of Manitoba in recognition of her dedication to equity, culture, and community health. Recognized provincially and nationally, Bernadette has gained attention for her leadership in addressing poverty as a human rights issue in child welfare. In her current role within Peel, she continues to build equitable, digitally enhanced learning environments tailored to meet every student's needs.