In SPU’s Master of Arts in Teaching program, alumna Deidre Smith found an environment that aligned with her values of integrating academic excellence with faith, service, and cultural engagement.
Deidre Smith, ’09, always believed education is more than instruction — it is advocacy, dignity, and hope. Long before she founded a nonprofit or stepped into philanthropy, she was a special education teacher quietly changing lives one student at a time. Today, as a graduate of Seattle Pacific University’s M.A. in Teaching program and the founder of DSA Footprint Foundation, her work continues to reflect a calling shaped by a commitment to seeing every person’s worth.
Smith was born and raised in rural Steer Town, Jamaica. From that beginning, she has been shaped to bring a global perspective to her work rooted in lived experience and cultural understanding. Her journey eventually led her to the United States where she devoted her career to special education serving immigrant students who often exist at the margins of the system. She also worked with English language learners and “children navigating systems that were not built with them in mind,” according to Smith.
“I still hear from my students,” Smith said. “Even though I’m no longer in the classroom, they’re still family.”
Walking alongside students beyond graduation is a responsibility that has defined Smith’s career. She recalls one former student, a first-generation American whose first language was Spanish, who went on to graduate from Washington State University with a degree in communications. Because her graduation took place during the pandemic, the ceremony was held online. Still, the student insisted on personally delivering her graduation invitation to Smith’s home.
“That meant everything,” she said. “Those moments remind you why you do the work.”
Smith’s advocacy work grew from her firsthand awareness of inequities within special education systems, particularly for minority and immigrant students. During her 13 years as a special education teacher, she witnessed how students were frequently placed into special education programs without meaningful pathways out.
“The system was created to support students,” she said. “But sometimes it becomes a system that traps some students, especially students who need to be dismissed from special education and given the chance to thrive independently.”
Smith became known as a fierce advocate for annual reviews and, most importantly, an exit pathway from special education contexts, when appropriate. This was often overlooked. While some students fear leaving the support structure they had always known, Smith believes many students step up to the challenge of leaving the special education environment and can grow in confidence.
“Sometimes they know their worth,” she said. “They just need someone to gently push them and say, ‘You can do this.’”
That philosophy followed her when she pursued a Master of Arts in Teaching with a special education focus. At SPU, Smith found an environment that aligned with her values — one that integrates academic excellence with faith, service, and cultural engagement. She recalls group projects as particularly inspirational, allowing her to learn from colleagues with diverse backgrounds and understand their motivations and passion for becoming educators. Smith credits her graduate education with sharpening both her professional practice and her sense of purpose. The program emphasized reflection, ethical leadership, and service beyond the classroom. These principles shaped her transition from educator to philanthropist.
That transition gave birth to DSA Footprint Foundation, an organization founded by Smith to extend her lifelong mission beyond the school system and into broader community impact. Founded in 2016, the foundation helps children and youth recognize their potential and develop essential life skills. Registered as a nonprofit with Washington state, the organization began by providing school supplies, kitchen essentials, and funding for Children’s Career Day and Teachers’ Day at Children R US Kindergarten in Steer Town, Jamaica. Its work has since expanded to include a free Empowerment Youth Camp for 6-12 year-old girls and boys. The camp’s curriculum features more than 20 sessions focused on financial literacy, personal and professional development, post–high school transitions, and leadership skills.
Smith’s work continues to echo the same principles she practiced in the classroom: follow-up, accountability, and care that does not disappear once a program ends.
“That checking-in matters,” she said. “People need to know someone sees them, even after the system moves on. I’ve always believed in walking with people,” Smith said. “Not just teaching them — walking with them.”
As Smith continues her work through DSA Footprint Foundation, her legacy remains connected to education and to the students who first taught her the power of persistence and hope.
