20 Under 40 | AMBER SMITH
Photo by JOHN BURNS
In Amber’s capacity as Deputy Judicial Administrator, she assists and/or backs up the judicial administration in all day-to-day and project functions necessary to the Office of Judicial Administration (OJA) and judicial branch operations. Amber’s specific areas of responsibility include the project management team and the cybersecurity office, which is dedicated to the network security of the judicial branch used by 1700+ employees, 250+ judicial officers, and the public. As general counsel, Amber manages OJA’s legal team.
Amber is a member of the Women Attorneys Association of Topeka, Kansas Criminal Justice Coordinating Council(KCJCC) and Kansas Bar Association. She serves as president of the Washburn Women’s Alliance, and treasurer for the Jay Shideler Elementary PTO.
As part of the KCJCC, Amber is one of five who develops and oversees reporting of all criminal justice federal funding available to the states or local units of government and oversees management of the criminal justice information system.
What is one piece of advice that has served you well in your journey?
“Choose your regrets wisely.” That sage nugget came from my dad. It’s long held true—at least in my experience—that we regret what we don’t do much more than the mistakes we make. My dad shared this advice with me early in my career, which he acknowledged he learned much later in his life than he wished he would have. My dad is not a verbose individual, and so the sentence came with little explanation. To me, it means to carefully consider your options, being mindful of the potential for missed opportunities and how much those missed opportunities might impact you later in life.
What do you love most about your work?
I love that my work gives me opportunities to meet and work with all the people it does. In addition to my awesome team and colleagues across the state, I get to work with court users from other branches of government, professional associations and groups, as well as individuals from our rural and urban communities. The variety of work and variety of people make the job interesting and rewarding.
How have you evolved and grown during your career?
I have definitely become more outgoing. During my childhood and even early in my career, I was very uncomfortable with public speaking and didn’t feel like I was very good at meeting new people or participating in any networking or social functions. Even when “litigation” was part of my job title, I remained extremely introverted.
Click here to go to the full list of 2022 20 Under 40 Honorees.
