Clint Smith is a teacher, poet, author and doctoral candidate at Harvard University. He is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and was named the 2013 Christine D. Sarbanes Teacher of the Year by the Maryland Humanities Council.

As a poet, he is a 2014 National Poetry Slam champion, an Individual World Poetry Slam finalist, and has served as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. Department of State. His TED Talk, The Danger of Silence, was named one of the top 20 TED Talks of 2014. His new TED Talk, How to Raise a Black Son in America, was released in April 2015.