Local entrepreneur succumbs

Lisa Franchesca Williams Smith of Palm Beach County died on March 6, after a lengthy bout with cancer.

Born in Los Angeles, Calif., Nov. 28, 1960, she was raised in Philadelphia and relocated to Palm Beach County about 20 years ago. Dedicated to entrepreneurship early in life, she founded her first non-profit, Young Artists Unlimited, at the age of 15. As a resident of the West Palm Beach area she established an executive business management consulting business and a community newspaper, the Palm Beach Executive Beach Executive News. She also served as program manager of The Business Loan Fund of the Palm Beaches. And, last year she was elected to serve on the Palm Beach County Community Action Program Advisory Board.

Ms. Smith attended Temple University in Philadelphia and received undergraduate and graduate degrees from North-wood University in West Palm Beach. At the time of her death she was a doctoral candidate in education at Lynne University in Boca Raton, Fla.

While business was her forte she was an accomplished dancer and musician. She was a member of Omo Ife, the junior company of the Arthur Hall Afro American Dance Company and she was the recipient of a scholarship to the famed Alvin Ailey School in New York City. A talented percussionist, she performed with many Caribbean bands in the Palm Beach area.

A member of Hilltop Baptist Church in Riviera Beach, Fla. she is mourned by her mother Karen Warrington, her father Harold Williams, siblings Stephen, Nicholas and Ngai, as well as nephews, Basir, Nicholas, Jeremy and Ahmir.