David Beaumont Smith is the Executive Director of the National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC), the Congressionally-chartered nonprofit focusing on civic engagement.  NCoC tracks, measures, and provides incentives for civic participation in partnership with leading organizations that are concerned with the health of history and civic education, national and community service, and political involvement and participation.

Prior to joining NCoC, David founded and served as the Executive Director of Mobilize.org, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating, empowering, and energizing young people to increase our civic engagement and political participation.

At the age of 21, David began to follow his American dream as the idea of Mobilize.org became a reality, and it has grown tremendously over the past five years under the guidance and direction of this young leader.  Mobilize.org has grown from a club on one college campus to a national network serving over 200 teams in 40 states while publishing acclaimed resources and policy briefs for the broader community.

David has been honored with awards including the YouthVote Coalition’s “30 under 30” and the International Youth Foundation’s “YouthActionNet Fellowship” for being a young social entrepreneur.  He has been featured in numerous magazines, blogs, and newspapers in over 20 states, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer, Orange County Register, and Dallas Morning Star. David has also presented workshops and keynote addresses at many national conferences and universities including National Young Leaders Conference, Campus Compact, Idealist, New Light Leadership Coalition, New Mexico Youth Alliance, University of Pennsylvania, St. John’s, University of Illinois at Chicago, and University of California at Berkeley.

In his final year of college, David led a group of ten students to plan a national conference in Washington DC, bringing together over 200 young Americans to form a national youth agenda.  He organized the March Across America, deemed the “Political Road Trip of 2004.” With 15 events in 15 cities, the March spanned the United States and inspired thousands in its wake.  In 2005, Mobilize.org published the Mobilizer’s Guidebook and launched the Youth Policy Action Center (YPAC).  In 2006, Mobilize.org helped to keep the youth vote in the forefront of the minds of campaign and media officials.  By raising the issue of college affordability to the national stage, millions of young voters showed up to voice their support.

David currently serves as the Vice Chair of YPAC, an award winning website that serves as a central hub for legislative action alerts pertaining to youth issues.  This tool has assisted its coalition of over 100 national and state organizations to promote youth involvement and empowerment while amplifying the lobbying voice of youth and youth advocates, and has grown to serve over 30,000 online advocates.

David also serves on the board of directors of Common Sense California, Prepare the Future, Americans for Generational Equity, and Mobilize.org.  He has been instrumental in bring a youth voice and engaging young leaders in various political reform efforts as well as in the general public policy process.

David graduated from Berkeley with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science.  While at Cal, he taught a class on National Youth Policy and researched the causes and possible solutions to the Youth Civic Engagement crisis in America.

From 1999-2003, David served the Associated Students of the University of California as National LobbyCorps Director, Chief-of-Staff to the External Affairs Vice President, Deputy Chief-of-Staff to the Executive Vice President, and Special Project Director to the President. During his tenure, David had the opportunity to organize many events and campaigns, including the 2003 Mobilizing America’s Youth National Conference, Cal Lobby Day, and voter registration drives enfranchising over 40,000 students.

In 2000-2001, David served as the UC Berkeley Interfraternity Council President and Public Relations Chair.  This leadership experience helped mold him into the leader he is today as he represented nearly 2,500 members of fraternities and sororities.  While in these leadership positions, David played an essential role in raising over $25,000 for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

David has worked on political fundraising events with the President, Vice President, and First Lady of the United States.  All told, he assisted in fundraising nearly $5 million for Congressional and Gubernatorial candidates.

After spending three years establishing Mobilize.org’s national office in Washington DC, David moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area to establish a permanent California office and strengthen Mobilize.org’s bi-coastal support of its nationwide network.

David is excited to return to his home state of California to bring his puppy, Zin, closer to his first niece, Maddie Rose, who will share their first birthday in May.  His passions include social ventures, civic entrepreneurship, traveling, poker, and the West Wing.