Meet Our
Fellows
Terrance Smith
BLOOMBERG PUBLIC INNOVATION FELLOW
2022-2024
Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation
at Johns Hopkins University
Terrance Smith is as an inaugural Bloomberg Public Innovation Fellow at Johns Hopkins University.
As a Fellow, Smith brought over a decade of experience in the public sector. Smith’s Fellowship project, Designing Trustworthy Public Institutions, breaks new ground in operationalizing trust in organizations and teams to unleash innovation. In a project research brief, Navigating Trust: Paving the Path to Public Innovation, Smith introduces the Trust-Innovation Spectrum, which proposes optimal zones of trust for overcoming cynicism and avoiding groupthink, both of which can stymie risk-taking and creative thinking necessary to innovation. Smith’s trust-innovation framework is based on insights from his conversations with scholars and practitioners around the world as well as research support from the Center to undertake comparative analysis across four cities in the Americas and Europe: Barranquilla, Colombia; Kansas City, Missouri; Mobile, Alabama; and Vantaa, Finland. Designing Trustworthy Public Institutions remains an ongoing project at the Center.
Previously, Smith, a native of Mobile, Alabama, led the city’s first innovation team, which garnered local and national attention for its strategies improving quality of life for residents. He was the founder of Mobile’s Office of Strategic Initiatives, which houses the Innovation Team and Datacenter. Earlier in his career, he was responsible for developing, operating, and scaling the prototype for Alabama’s first charter school. Bloomberg’s CityLab named Smith one of “Six Innovators to Watch,” and he was a 2019 Traegar award winner, which recognizes the nation’s top engaging local government leaders. Terrance is a graduate of the University of South Alabama, Leadership Mobile, and the Alabama Leadership Initiative. Currently, Smith serves as director of Baltimore’s innovation team in the Mayor’s Office of Performance and Innovation.
Fellowship Project
featured media
Listen & Watch
MAINSTAGE TALK
Building Trust in Public Institutions: A Path to Public Innovation and Progress
Creative Bureaucracy Festival
Berlin, Germany
June 15, 2023
PANEL DISCUSSION
Activating Local Democracy
Elijah E. Cummings Democracy and Freedom Festival Plenary Session
Baltimore, Maryland
February 16, 2023
PANEL DISCUSSION
Trust: How Cities Can Build It, Maintain It, and Repair It
CityLab 2023 Plenary Session
Washington, DC
October 19, 2023
Listen & Watch
MAINSTAGE TALK
Building Trust in Public Institutions: A Path to Public Innovation
Creative Bureaucracy Festival
Berlin, Germany
June 15, 2023
PANEL DISCUSSION
Activating Local Democracy
Elijah E. Cummings Democracy and Freedom Festival Plenary Session
Baltimore, Maryland
February 16, 2023
PANEL DISCUSSION
Trust: How Cities Can Build It, Maintain It, and Repair It
CityLab 2023 Plenary Session
Washington, DC
October 19, 2023
Recent Features
Bloomberg Cities Network | November 1, 2023
Highlights and key insights from the 10th Bloomberg CityLab Summit, where mayors, innovators, and leaders gathered in Washington, D.C., to discuss urban challenges and opportunities.
The Aspen Institute | October 25, 2023
The Aspen Institute’s President and CEO, Dan Porterfield, moderated a thought-provoking session on a subject affecting communities and shaping our ability to make progress: trust in our institutions and each other.
One United Lancaster | June 9, 2023
Powering innovation through trust-building takes time, commitment, and a strategic approach to civic engagement.
NBC News TV-15 Mobile | April 5, 2023
High school students in Mobile County are using their voice to create change.
Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation | October 15, 2022
Public innovation’s exponential growth in the last decade has helped bring to life a range of new, effective solutions in government – from the response to COVID-19 to reimagining parks and libraries. How are innovative leaders challenging systems? What does boundary breaking mean for the communities they serve?