Diversity and inclusion champion, communications expert, and public relations veteran are just a few words used to describe Trisch L. Smith. During her tenure with Edelman, the world’s leading global communications marketing agency, Smith has managed stakeholder outreach, strategic positioning, crisis and reputation management campaigns for a host of Fortune 500 corporations seeking to engage a broad spectrum of stakeholders, including Starbucks, Unilever, HP, Toyota, United Way of America, Prudential and Walmart, among several others.
For a decade, Smith led the firm’s award-winning Multicultural practice providing senior counsel to a wide range of clients to protect, promote and evolve their brands and effectively engage diverse thought leaders, consumers and other stakeholders. In 2015, Smith was appointed to serve as the U.S. Managing Director of Diversity and Inclusion, and in fall 2018 she was named Edelman’s first Global Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer. In this role, Smith oversees all diversity, equity and inclusion strategic planning, education, cultural development, external partnerships, and recruitment efforts to ensure Edelman’s workforce reflects the increasingly diverse marketplace. As part her work, she actively strives to ensure an equitable and inclusive workplace.
Along with her agency responsibilities, Trisch serves on the Board of Directors of Color Comm: Women of Color in Communications, the Public Relations Council and the Board of Advocates of the Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA). She previously served on the boards of the National Black Child Development Institute and Mentoring USA. She is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Smith’s continued work to drive change has been recognized. She has received several awards, including being featured as one of the “Top 100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America” and one of the “Most Influential Women in Corporate America” in Savoy Magazine. In 2019, she received the inaugural Adweek/ADCOLOR Champions award for diversity and inclusion. In December 2018, she was named a Woman of Excellence and P&L Executive of the Year by the National Association of Female Executives. In March 2017, she was awarded the Spectrum Circle Award for Innovation in Media. In 2016, she was recognized in the Financial Times as one of the “Upstanding 100” for top diverse executive leaders globally.
Smith earned a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park and a bachelor’s degree in communications from Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD.