Posted by Rick Taylor on Jan 02, 2018
Corey Minor Smith earned a Bachelor’s Degree of Arts in English and a Master’s Degree of Education in Guidance and Counseling from Bowling Green State University. Corey then earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Toledo College of Law where she served as President of the Black Law Student Association, competed in the 15th Annual University of Minnesota Law School National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition and won first place in the American Society of Composers Artists and Publishers’ Nathan Burkan Memorial Competition.

She is a member of the Ohio and Georgia bars and licensed to practice before the United States District Court of the Northern District of Ohio. She began her legal career as an Assistant Prosecutor and later served as a Judicial Attorney authoring decisions that were upheld by the 9th District Court of Appeals before establishing the Law Office of Corey Minor Smith, LLC. Currently, as General Counsel for Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority (SMHA), Corey represents SMHA in civil and administrative proceedings and guides the Executive Director and SMHA staff on an array of complex legal, labor relations and contract matters. Nationally, Corey was a panelist at the Housing and Development Law Institute conference in Washington DC. Internationally, Corey presented in Cape Town, South Africa during the Southern African Housing Foundation Conference as a delegate of the United States.

The Canton Oldtimers Ladies Auxiliary Club honored Corey with its Phenomenal Woman Award, she was named one of Stark County’s Twenty Under 40! and an ATHENA International Women’s Leadership Finalist. The Boy Scouts of America Buckeye Council also honored Corey with the Spirit of Scouting Award and she was inducted into the YWCA Women’s Hall of Fame, Class of 2016. Her current community activities include being a motivational speaker, a member of the Honorable Judge Ira Turpin Scholars Recognition Committee and the Akron/Canton Barristers Association. In addition to being a proud member of the Stark County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, Corey is a graduate of the 2008 Class of Leadership Stark County’s Government Academy and Leadership Stark County’s 26th Class. Among her accomplishments, Corey was the first African American female to be a candidate for Judge in the Canton Municipal Court and received 30% of the vote against a 20+ year incumbent. Subsequently, Corey was elected to the Canton City Schools Board of Education after receiving the most votes out of five candidates. Most recently, on November 7, 2017, Corey received the most votes out of six candidates and was elected to be a Canton City Council at Large member. She is the first African American to ever be elected to the position.