Sheila Smith, senior advisor at Gordon Brothers and a long-time member of the financial advisory and turnaround and restructuring industries, passed away on Saturday following a decade-long battle with pancreatic cancer.
Smith spent the last six years serving as a senior advisor for Gordon Brothers after a successful career in the restructuring industry, getting her start as a managing director at KPMG Corporate Recovery before serving in multiple leadership roles at Deloitte CRG from 2000 to 2015, including restructuring service line leader for the Americas region and service line leader of the U.S. and the New England FAS practice. She retired from Deloitte in 2015 and became a senior advisor for Gordon Brothers in 2017.
Smith was a highly engaged member of several industry organizations, particularly the Turnaround Management Association, for which she served in numerous leadership roles, including co-chair of the TMA Global Annual Conference committee in 2004, 2012 and 2020. She also served as a president of the Northeast chapter of the TMA and was a driving force behind TMA’s Network of Women (NOW) committee at both the chapter and global level. She was inducted into the TMA Hall of Fame in 2013.
“Sheila was one-of-a-kind. There was no one more positive and inspiring. Sheila, dressed in bright colors with a welcoming smile and outstretched handshake, shifted the center of gravity of every room she walked into. Her energy was infectious to all those who had the good fortune of interacting with her,” Ken Frieze, chairman of the board at Gordon Brothers, said in an email to the restructuring community. “She battled her cancer with that same tenacity, defying the odds and extending her life. She inspired many along the way to never give up. Her impact in the medical community — both on other patients and doctors — will forever be remembered.
“Sheila, we will miss you. You’ve been an inspiration to all of us — making each and every one of us a better version of ourselves. With a heavy heart, we say goodbye. May your memory be a blessing to all who knew you.”
