Dr. Michael D. Smith

Michael D. Smith has over 25 years of experience in non-profit organizational operations and change management, governance, program development and implementation, strategic planning, meeting and event planning, and diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) advocacy, with a specialty in STEM fields. His evolved leadership style includes direct stakeholder engagement that spans pre-college through workforce, and nurtured client relationships with a foundation in collaborative networks. Through his passion for DEI, he has delivered and supported strategies that have elevated the DEI efforts within non-profits, academia and industry in their support of underrepresented minorities, persons with disabilities, persons within and allies to the LGBTQIA+ community, and young girls and women. 

Michael, known by many as “Dr. Mike”, is currently Operations Specialist with The PEER Group, a consulting company that specializes in evaluation, organizational leadership and development, and research with a focus on equity and inclusion. He also served as the former Deputy Executive Director of The National GEM Consortium (GEM) where he was responsible for coordinating the day-to-day operational, financial, programmatic, event planning, external communications, strategic partnerships and board support services management of the organization, including management of the GEM Fellowship Program. 

Prior to GEM, Dr. Mike served as Interim Deputy Executive Director and Director of Programs for the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), responsible for the strategic development, evaluation and implementation coordination of all student and technical professional programs at the chapter, regional and national levels. He has previous industry experience with DuPont Specialty Chemicals, Phillips 66 Natural Gas Company, and Amoco Production, along with academe experience at Texas A&M University. Michael serves on numerous non-profit boards of directors of STEM-based organizations including the National Engineers Week Foundation (DiscoverE), National Girls Collaborative Project, aSTEAM Village and The Carpentries. 

Michael holds a B.S. and M.S. in chemical engineering from Missouri University of Science & Technology (UM-Rolla) and doctorate in chemical engineering/ engineering management from Texas A&M University. Dr. Mike is proud to be a Lifetime member of NSBE, SHPE, AISES (Sequoyah Fellow), and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.