WCU Magazine Summer 2026

Kristin Smedley ’93 likes talking about life’s curveballs and how well we respond to them. Smedley, a rare disease advocate, motivational speaker, and author, says she fielded a significant curveball in 2000 when her son Michael was born blind due to a rare genetic condition. In 2003 it happened again when her son Mitchell was born.

Initially she was devastated by the diagnosis — until the day she realized that her happy-go-lucky three-year-old’s ability to enjoy life didn’t have to be limited by his disability.

Recalling that moment in her 2017 TEDx Talk, she says, “I had been blind to the possibility of my son having an amazing life,” she says.

Smedley plunged into advocating for her sons to have the same opportunities and expectations as sighted children. They played baseball, football, and soccer with sighted teammates. In their school, she insisted that they meet the same high standards as other students while using braille textbooks and assistive technologies.

Soon she began advocating for others. “I learned….that the first question I should ask when I enter a room and meet someone is, ‘How can I help you to be successful?’ ” she says.

As co-founder and CEO of the nonprofit Curing Retinal Blindness Foundation established in 2011, she’s led what she calls “a small but mighty team” in raising awareness and more than $4 million for research. Her work included testifying before the FDA for approval of the first gene therapy for an inherited retinal disease.

A sought-after speaker, she addresses school districts about setting high expectations for all students, encourages the medical community to emphasize positive possibilities for patients, and teaches corporate executives her proprietary formula (called THRIVE) for responding positively to those curveballs. In May 2026, Smedley addressed the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in Denver, as the lead author on a study she’s completing with London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital.

Smedley began her career as a third-grade teacher after earning her degree in early and middle grades education. She says West Chester gave her skills she uses everyday as an advocate and speaker.

“West Chester gave me the foundation to be the best change maker in a child's life,” Smedley says. “I don't feel like they just taught me to teach. They taught me to be a change maker for a child in a classroom, in a building, in a school district, in the world.”

She jokes that preparing for her speaking engagements is similar to writing lesson plans. “I ask, ‘What do they know? What do they need to know? What's their prior knowledge? What do I want them to do next?’ Everything stems from a lesson plan.”

Much of her current advocacy focuses on improving employment opportunities for the blind. The statistic that 70% are unemployed was brought home when her oldest son – a summa cum laude college graduate – faced challenges finding a job after graduation. “He called me and said, ‘Where are we with a cure, Mom? The world isn’t ready for thriving with blindness.”

Her son eventually landed a job as an audio engineer with Walt Disney World, but Smedley is determined it will be easier for others. To that end, she established the Thriving Blind Academy to share the tools needed to succeed and published a book, Thriving Blind, which tells the stories of blind people excelling in many fields. Next up is a feature film, Curveball, that will highlight the story of Smedley and her sons to show what’s possible.

The film project focuses on what the blind can achieve. Smedley says she’ll continue using lessons learned at West Chester to help her do it.