Executive Producer Robert F. Smith, the son of two Ed.D educators, was raised in Denver, Colorado. His awakening to social justice began shortly after he was born, when he attended the March on Washington swaddled in his mother’s arms. Never forgetting the importance of education and the formative science background he obtained with his B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Smith created a pathway at Cornell Engineering’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering with a $50 million donation to encourage African American and female students to enter STEM careers. Smith’s close ties to his alma maters led to his $15 million contribution in 2017 to ensure that Columbia University, based on the edge of Harlem on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, could “expand its reach and, through that reach, expand the number of people and types of people who will benefit from a Columbia education.” Smith combined his understanding of science with his business acumen to build a career that allows him to span both creative and corporate worlds.

The Black Culture and Social Justice Advocate Behind Be Woke

Robert F. Smith is also the Black culture and social justice advocate behind two Webby-award recognized podcast platforms: Be Woke.Vote and Black History in Two Minutes. Smith often contributes to discussions about these topics on his Facebook page and other social platforms to help raise awareness. Smith is an entrepreneur and tech innovator based in Austin, TX, who has forged strong bonds with cultural institutions that preserve and promote Black history and the diversity of Black voices in America. At the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., Smith provided that the next crop of curators is being nurtured at the Center for the Digitization and Curation of African American History. And, yes. Smith is the commencement speaker who made sure the Morehouse College Class of 2019 rose from graduation unburdened by student loans and thus able to jumpstart their careers, families and businesses. There is a motive behind Smith’s philanthropy at Morehouse and his more recent $50 million contribution to the Student Freedom Initiative. “The $1.6 trillion student debt crisis in our country is a human rights crisis,” Smith said in a press statement. “The Initiative is purposefully built to redress historic economic and social inequities and to offer a sustainable, scalable platform to invest in the education of future Black leaders.” His actions to benefit the next generation at historically Black colleges and universities is one of the many reasons Smith was recognized as a TIME100 leader. He was bestowed with the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy for honoring the sacrifices and contributions of African Americans by using his platform to advocate for educational and professional advancement.

All Black Votes Matter

Smith spoke at a virtually-held ecumenical service of The Conference of National Black Churches’ asking all Black voters to turn outrage into action and participate in the 2020 election. He recalled watching a presidential debate when a young person stepped up to ask why Black people should vote when the entire system seems rigged against them. “I get where he’s coming from,” Smith said. But, he countered with the lesson he said learned from his parents and grandparents, which was: you don’t fix the system by withdrawing from it. Smith said, “History shows that we have to get in the game. Stay in the game. And do the hard work.” Twitter | Instagram | YouTube