Tabaris Smith is the Senior Program Manager, Special Projects at Emerald Cities Collaborative. He develops strategies to demonstrate the value of Minority, Women, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises participating in clean energy and infrastructure projects that support small contractors to decarbonize America’s building stock in cities including Chicago, DC, California , Boston, and Seattle. Smith is passionate about building strategic partnerships to support disadvantaged communities. He has been an organizer on local, statewide and national campaigns including that of North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. In addition, Tabaris has been named a Young, Gifted & Green 40 under 40 awardee, which is an annual list of BIPOC environmental justice leaders under the age of 40 from across the U.S. who are grappling with complex solutions to solve the Climate Crisis and dismantle Environmental Racism. Smith holds a Master in Urban and Regional Planning from Alabama A&M University and is pursuing a PhD Urban Regional Planning with concentration in Community Development and Housing.