Durrell Smith has over a decade of experience actively combatting institutionalized racism and advancing social mobility through the lens of social and economic development. His work is focused on bridging institutional resources and civic leadership in order to mobilize community-based agendas. He brings together education, housing, transportation and small business development to make wealth building more equitable for BIPOC communities.
As a community developer for Pipes International, Smith developed social entrepreneurship programs for indigenous people in east Africa to help lift themselves out of poverty. He is a highly regarded consultant for civic government and nonprofit and for profit entities for policy development, program development and project management.
At the Brown School, Smith’s primary role as field faculty is to teach, advise and oversee students in the domestic socioeconomic development concentration in the Office of Field Education. Prior to joining the Brown School, Smith helped to build an innovative educational program as a tenure track professor in Southern California. His teaching style has been described as thought provoking and dynamic. He cultivated optimal student engagement while teaching Current Events, Citizenship & Identity, and General Sociology courses.
A Brown School alum (MSW ‘16), Smith returned to our community in 2021 as an adjunct faculty member.Smith is incredibly passionate about serving underserved and disenfranchised communities on a domestic and international scale. He believes that communities can be healthy and prosperous, if societal conditions are transformed toward equity and justice.
