Cathy Smith founded her firm in 1995 and has advocated for the creative and strategic use of public involvement in a range of projects and programs. Her experience combines journalism, mediation and marketing to deliver engagement strategies that focus on common interests, accurate information and creative solutions. Over the past twenty years, her firm has worked on water, energy, transportation, land use, storm water pollution prevention, economic development, and cultural diversity. Her firm has designed and led the implementation of the City of San Diego's Waste No Water campaign, which is recognized as one of the nation's leading behavior change campaigns for water conservation. In 2014, her firm merged with a design team to bring clients all the benefits of an , inter-disciplinary team. As Partner in Charge of Communications, she leads the firm's strategies that combine the talents of the firm's team to develop collaborative solutions to develop awareness, understanding and action on the critical issues associated with climate change, infrastructure management and urban development.