Dr. Marion Smith Jr.

Dr. Marion Smith Jr. is a nationally recognized educator and racial equity scholar whose career embodies a blend of transformative leadership, equity pedagogy and innovation-driven change. He brings close to 25 years of experience leading and managing complex organizational growth across PK-12 education, post-secondary institutions, and the burgeoning EdTech sector.

Currently serving as the Chief Learning Officer at Bloom Software Inc. (Thrively), a social impact EdTech company revolutionizing education through strengths-based learning, Dr. Smith is a champion for humanizing education. Every child has a genius and they deserve to thrive. It’s this core philosophy that guides his work at Thrively, where he focuses on supporting educators and families across the country in creating the conditions for learning that develop the whole child by identifying strengths, supporting well-being, and instilling Hope.

Dr. Smith is not only reshaping the educational landscape; he is also laying the groundwork for a paradigm shift in how leaders disrupt and dismantle personal, institutional, and systemic inequities through the Racial Equity Adaptive Leadership (R.E.A.L.) Framework©, which he co-authored.

Throughout his career, Dr. Smith has broken barriers and set precedents as a truth-seeker, convener, and catalyst for change. Before joining Thrively, he served as the Assistant State Superintendent of Instructional Programs & Services for the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), and as Chief Academic Officer and Deputy Superintendent of Academics for St. Louis Public Schools (SLPS). Additionally, he made history as both the first Black administrator and first Black Superintendent of Schools in Summit School District in Summit County, Colorado, in its 150-year history. Dr. Smith has also held leadership roles in Washington, Pennsylvania, and Nevada. Under his guidance, educational communities have witnessed unprecedented student academic achievement, first-of-its-kind policy creation, and innovative teaching practices designed to sustain systemic change.

A lifelong learner, Dr. Smith earned a doctorate degree in Educational Leadership and Change from Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, CA, and a law degree from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. He is an inaugural graduate of the AASA Urban Superintendents Academy at the University of Southern California (USC), a Harvard Business School Public Education Leadership Project (PELP) alumnus, and an inaugural Fellow of the Men of Color in Educational Leadership (MCEL) National Leadership Institute.

With a relentless pursuit of excellence and equity, Dr. Smith is building a future where strengths-based, joyful, and hopeful learning environments that increase student academic outcomes are the norm, not the exception. His visionary work is poised to continue inspiring educational reform, solidifying him as a leader to follow into 2025 and beyond.