Dwight Smith Speaking Fee: $10,000 and Below

Spend one hour with Dwight Smith and you will hear his passion for encouraging children, entrepreneurship and value-based leadership. You also will learn that he has a love for the power of positive words, he can chat with business and community leaders and hike Mt. Kilimanjaro not only for fun, but also to raise funds for youth organizations around the world. He leverages every opportunity to have a positive impact on others. Smith served as President and CEO of Sophisticated Systems, Inc. (SSI), a technology services and solutions firm he started in 1990. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, SSI was at the top of its game and doing well--until it wasn’t. Turning SSI from a company with a $715,000 loss and $2.1 million in debt to the highly profitable and award-winning company was the proving ground for some of Smith’s biggest leadership lessons. Smith had a successful exit in 2023 as he sold the company to a Private Equity Backed high growth firm. Smith's inspiring stories are lessons in triumph and failure. They are an amazing journey from being a rebel youth to a thought leader in the board room of some of this nation's most influential companies. As a speaker--with compassion, authenticity, and humility--Smith inspires, informs and motivates his audience to be the great leaders they are meant to be. Smith is available as a keynote speaker on topics covering business, leadership, motivation and the importance of giving back (servant leadership). Smith serves on numerous board of directors of publicly traded and private companies as well as non-profits with a national and international reach. He has served as the past board chair of The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, The Columbus Foundation, Rev1 Ventures and Columbus State Community College. He has a BS in Marketing, an MBA in Finance from The Ohio State University and has received two honorary doctorate degrees. He and his wife, Renee have two foundations and are committed to giving back. He is an angel investor and mentor to entrepreneurs. A portion of all speaking fees will be donated to charity.