We are pleased to announce that Michael D. Smith, CEO of AmeriCorps, will be a keynote speaker at the Global Ties U.S. 2023 National Meeting on Thursday, March 30. He joins Global Ties U.S. 2023 Citizen Diplomat Awardees Justin Powell, Executive Director of the Salt Lake City youth humanitarian organization Youthlinc, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, represented by Andrea Bertrand, the Museum’s Programming Manager for International Audiences, during the plenary session: (Re)Building Community at Home. The plenary session will also include colleagues representing the U.S. Department of State and will celebrate how active participation by U.S. citizens in foreign affairs helps build more inclusive, integrated communities within the United States.
Michael Smith is the eighth CEO of AmeriCorps, the federal agency dedicated to improving lives, strengthening communities, and fostering civic engagement through service and volunteering. He was nominated by President Biden and confirmed by the United States Senate in 2021.
Michael has dedicated his career to social justice and public service in underserved communities. He previously served as the executive director of the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance and the director of Youth Opportunity Programs, both initiatives of the Obama Foundation, where he led the Foundation’s efforts to reduce barriers and expand opportunities for young men of color, their families, and other underserved youth. Michael was part of the team that designed and launched the My Brother’s Keeper initiative in the Obama Administration and managed the initiative and interagency task force at the White House in his roles as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of Cabinet Affairs. Under Michael’s leadership, My Brother’s Keeper engaged tens of thousands of new mentors; reached more than 250 communities across the United States, Puerto Rico, and 19 tribal nations; and led to more than $1 billion in private sector and philanthropic investments.
During the Obama Administration, he also served as director of the Social Innovation Fund, a key White House initiative and program of the Corporation for National and Community Service dedicated to finding, improving, and growing community-led solutions in three priority areas: economic opportunity, healthy futures, and youth development. During his tenure, Michael reinvigorated the initiative, managed its largest funding competition, introduced its first Pay for Success grant program, and oversaw a portfolio of more than $700 million in public-private investments in support of more than 200 nonprofits.
Michael is a Senior Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity and a proud member of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America’s Alumni Hall of Fame, the highest honor bestowed by the organization.