Damarr Smith is a Program Officer for the Steans Family Foundation’s North Chicago Team. In this role, Damarr partners with the North Chicago community to advance postsecondary strategies that bridge the divide from high school to college completion and workforce pathways.
Prior to joining the Steans Family Foundation, Damarr most recently served as Chief of Staff for the Golden Apple Foundation. He is also the founder of Expansive Minds Consulting LLC, an education and non-profit consultancy specializing in teacher pathway preparation and organizational scaling. Prior roles include Senior Program Manager of Competency-Based Education for Chicago Public Schools and Chicago 100K Opportunities Initiative Project Manager with Thrive Chicago.
Damarr holds a Master of Education from Yale School of Management’s The Broad Center for Urban Leadership along with an MBA from Babson College. Damarr is an alum of the Academy for Local Leadership Chicago.
In his spare time Damarr writes and creates songs. He supports initiatives that increase arts equity for youth in the Chicagoland area and serves on the board for Intonation Music. Damarr is a creative strategist with an entrepreneurial and collective impact mindset.