Abria Smith

Abria Smith is a Boston native who has worked for over 20 years as an actor, musician, and writer. She attended Berklee College of Music, where she earned a degree in music business/management, and Cambridge College, where she earned a master’s degree in psychology. 

Currently the associate director for community engagement at the college, Smith has spent her 18 years there working with programs that empower communities through the sharing of institutional resources. She is responsible for establishing and developing positive relationships between the college and outside entities that support the college in its commitment to the cultural, artistic, and educational development of the Boston area and that benefit both college constituencies (students, faculty, staff, and alumni) and partner organizations in the municipal, for-profit, and nonprofit sectors.

Her professional life is driven by her desire to serve and express herself. She regularly performs community service both at work and personally, serving on Berklee’s Gracenotes faculty and staff volunteer committee and as a volunteer leader for the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts. She has published a book of her poetry, Somebody Soup, and recently released a single, "We Shall Rise." Her signature statement—“When I cease to create, I cease to exist.”—sums up the importance of the arts in her life.