Aquaria Richardson-Smith
Program Manager to the Judicial Council of Georgia Administrative Office of the Courts
Aquaria Richardson-Smith has worked in the public sector for over 26 years. Her most recent experience included serving as the Program Manager to the Judicial Council of Georgia Administrative Office of the Courts. She managed the statewide certification and regulatory program of nearly 1,150 court professionals in Georgia and worked closely with a statutory, nine-member board responsible for governing the court reporting profession. Under her leadership, Aquaria was instrumental in transitioning the state-based examination to a national skills test, helped guide the conversion of the licensing records to a web-based interface system, and led the research of national trends and policies in court reporting services that resulted in the General Assembly adoption of the Judicial Council of Georgia Court Reporting Services and Fees in Criminal Cases.
Her strong leadership and managerial experiences helped fuel her enthusiasm for volunteer service in education, young people, and women. Aquaria’s community involvement included serving in leadership roles, such as Co-President of North Atlanta Parents for Public Schools, Chair of the Young People’s Division at Cascade United Methodist Church, Board Secretary to the North Atlanta High School Foundation, Parliamentarian and Legislative Liaison of North Atlanta High School PTSA, and most recently, she was accepted to the 2020 Georgia Women’s Policy institute Fellowship program of the YWCA of Greater Atlanta. As an active member of The Junior League of Atlanta, Inc. (JLA) , Aquaria has participated in The Little Black Dress Initiative – an advocacy campaign that raises awareness and funds about generational poverty; she is a current member of JLA’s Individual Giving Committee, a year-round fundraising program that supports the mission of JLA, provides leadership trainings, and financially assists its community partners; Aquaria also serves on JLA’s Leadership and Development Council Committee in Training where she helped create evaluative surveys that measure the knowledge and skills acquired from leadership trainings.
Aquaria is a member of Brenau University’s 2021-2022 Executive Women’s Master of Business Administration residency program. She is a graduate of Georgia State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in Psychology. She is an alum of the United Way of Atlanta VIP Board training program, and holds a Certificate of Court Administration from the Georgia Council of Court Administrators and an American Bar Association approved paralegal certificate from the National Center for Paralegal Training, Inc. She lives in the Atlanta Buckhead community with her husband of 22 years, Marshall E. Smith, Jr., and her three college children, Kai Brittany, Marshall Renard, and Hunter Reine.