ABOUT ME

Erik C. Smith is currently the Managing Member of Inclusivity, LLC (formerly Carlton Consulting, LLC), an organizational development and marketing advisory firm with offices now based in Florida, specializing in Cultural Competence, Community Relations and Cross-cultural Marketing for both for profit and not for profit enterprises. Most recently Erik was the Cultural Competence and Inclusion Director at Valpak where he developed a cultural competency rubric to show how diversity, coupled with inclusion, creates opportunities for innovation, drives revenue, and enhances recruitment, retention, and professional development of employees and suppliers. Previously he was the Executive Director of The Jeff Johnson (Known for BET’s The Mancave) Institute for Urban Development whose focus was to train young urban professionals for leadership. Concurrently, he served as the COO of Jeff’s Nation, a consulting firm with offices in Maryland and Ohio whose specialty is media and message consulting. Moreover, he has consulted for numerous Fortune 100 advertising agencies, public relations firms, and consumer product companies globally. He has over 25 years of experience as a corporate finance and marketing professional.

He has been a moderator, panelist, and speaker discussing the following topics: Unconscious Bias, Millennials in the workplace, Courageous conversations and the business case for diversity, equity and inclusion.

Erik’s community engagement experience includes being on the board of or aligned with: The City of St. Petersburg, The United Way Suncoast, Pinellas County Urban League, Leadership Pinellas, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce, Allegany Franciscan Ministries, The Deuces Live and the Pinellas Community Foundation just to name a few.

Lastly, Erik’s educational background consists of a Master’s in Business Administration from Case Western Reserve University and a Bachelor of Arts from Duke University. He is married and the proud father of three young men.