Smith serves on the Board of Directors for the Business Roundtable, the Board of Overseers of Columbia Business School and the Cornell Engineering College Council. He is a Founding Member of the World Economic Forum EDISON Alliance, Chairman of Carnegie Hall, the former Chair of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights and a Founding Partner of the REFORM Alliance.

Smith is the Founding Director and President of the Fund II Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving the African American experience, human rights, environmental conservation and a broad range of initiatives. He also founded the Student Freedom Initiative to help relieve student debt for STEM students at all HBCUs, and he helps lead the Southern Communities Initiative to advance racial equity in southern U.S. communities.

Smith was awarded the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, was named one of Forbes’ 100 Greatest Living Business Minds and was recognized as one of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2020.