Suzanne Smith In the Limelight with Clarissa Burt

Suzanne Smith is a nationally recognized community strategist, professor, TEDx speaker, and founder of Social Impact Architects. A Duke MBA, she has spent more than two decades helping leaders tackle complex issues in education, poverty, healthcare, and workforce development. She has also worked with government agencies—including the federal government—and is trilingual in government, policy, and business, giving her a rare perspective on how meaningful change happens.

Suzanne is the author of Social TrendSpotter, ranked among the nation’s top nonprofit blogs, where she has analyzed philanthropy and nonprofit trends weekly for over 13 years. Known for her straight talk and storytelling, she helps audiences see what’s really happening behind the headlines, understand why society’s toughest problems are so difficult to solve, and discover which solutions have been proven to work.

In her TEDx talk, “Everyone Can Be a Changemaker,” she shows how ordinary people can take small steps that create extraordinary ripple effects. Whether breaking down giving trends, unpacking nonprofit scandals, or highlighting community solutions, Suzanne makes the case that everyone has a role to play in making change possible.