Guy L. Smith joined the Board of Directors in 2005 and was appointed Chairman effective November 14, 2018. Mr. Smith has served as a senior executive at the highest levels of global corporations, the United States government, and a global NGO. He is also a longtime Democratic political strategist, having served on the Clinton White House staff, was a radio spokesman for the Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign and also surrogate spokesperson for the Biden for President Campaign. He frequently appears on cable news discussing national politics.
During his career, he has managed public relations, government relations, reputation management, corporate relations, internal and external communications and corporate social responsibility for global corporations, as well as overseeing all public relations programs associated with the companies’ marketing communications and related activities.
Guy is one of the country’s leading experts on reputation management and crisis and disaster planning and communications. In this regard, he has extensive background and experience with global corporations, global consultancies, NGOs, and public service. He has particular experience in managing difficult reputational challenges and issues.
Guy served on the Board of Directors of The Center for Democracy and in that role, was very involved in the emergence of democratic institutions and governments around the world, especially Costa Rica, Russia, Armenia, and Poland. He has lectured at international universities and institutions, ranging from Moscow State University to the Canadian Armed Forces War College, on the expansion of democracy as well as reputation management on a global basis.
He is widely known as an expert in leadership development. In that regard, he is the author of the book “If It’s Not Impossible, It’s Not Interesting.”
He spent 17 years as Executive Vice President of Diageo North America, where he led regulatory, legislative, and social change in the alcohol industry, resulting in multiple share point gains of spirits over beer and wine.
Guy was Special Advisor to President William Jefferson Clinton on The White House staff, where he served on the impeachment defense team handling communications and political strategy.
Guy also served as vice chairman of AmeriCares, the international disaster relief and humanitarian organization. He has personally led disaster responses to numerous trouble spots around the world including Afghanistan, Sarajevo, North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, Jordan, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Peru, Ecuador, Bosnia, Turkey, Costa Rica, Poland, Russia, and India. Mr. Smith was awarded a special medal commemorating his disaster relief work in Spitak, Armenia by the President and Parliament of Armenia following the devastating 1988 earthquake that killed nearly 100,000 persons.
In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks, Guy organized and led the “Diageo Ground Zero to Ground Zero Airlift,” which was the first civilian humanitarian airlift into Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan since hostilities began there. The Diageo Afghanistan airlift delivered 100,000 pounds of food supplies to an 800-child orphanage in Kabul.
Guy has been a Visiting Professor of Public Relations at Moscow State University where he conducted the first western-style public relations courses in Russia following the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
He was Chief Operating Officer of Hill & Knowlton International Public Relations in New York, where he consulted with the firm’s largest consumer product, technology, and legal clients.
Prior to that Smith was VP Corporate Affairs, the senior public affairs officer, for Philip Morris Companies Inc. (now Altria). During his nearly 17 years with Philip Morris, Smith also led the corporate affairs departments of the Miller Brewing Company and The Seven-Up Company, both Philip Morris operating companies. At Miller Brewing Company, Smith participated in the national introduction of Lite Beer and at The Seven-Up Company he pioneered the first use of 800 toll-free telephone numbers printed on soft drink packages, a move that was quickly copied by other soft drink makers.
Early in his career he was Director of Information of the Appalachian Regional Commission in Washington, D.C. Smith began his career as a reporter and assistant city editor for The Knoxville Journal. He is currently chairman of the Barrier Island Trust, an environmental protection organization.
Mr. Smith frequently lectures at major universities on crisis and reputation management and public policy issue management and also conducts crisis and disaster exercises for local communities. He also serves as an Honorary Battalion Chief of the Fire Department of New York and is a former member of the Board of Advisors of Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home.
