Brian Smith

Brian Smith

Brian brings more than 20 years of professional experience in the public and private sectors to the Innovation Team. His background includes work in nonprofit management, county government, for-profit business development, policy consultation, fundraising, lobbying and reform efforts in juvenile justice, human services, health, transportation and education. Before joining the City, Brian was owner and president of the Institute on Culture and Policy, a policy consulting firm dedicated to eliminating racial and ethnic disparities through systems change and community engagement. While maintaining his leadership role with the Institute on Culture and Policy, Brian also served as the State of Minnesota’s coordinator for the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative for four years.

Brian Smith

Contributing Articles

Fortis Capital Partners with Living Cities and the City of Minneapolis to Double Down on Bridging Racial Gaps in Access to Capital

A new fund will increase access to affordable debt for small and growing businesses owned by Black and brown people in Minneapolis. Business ownership in Minneapolis is uneven by race. The City of Minneapolis has a total population of 411,500, of which 19% percent are Black, 10% Latinx, 6% Pan Asian, and 1% Native American. While Whites comprise 63.9% of …

An Inside Organizer: Brian Smith

At Living Cities, we’ve been interrogating what it means to organize for racial equity and how we and others can leverage that strategy to close racial wealth and income gaps. Lucky for us, we have a wealth of folks in our network that we can learn from – like Brian Smith, Director of Performance & Innovation for the City of …

Contributing Resources

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