Dalouge Smith

Dalouge Smith joined The Lewis Prize for Music as its first CEO in August 2018. Previously, he led San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory (SDYS) as President and CEO for over 13 years. At SDYS, he transformed the organization into a community instigator for restoring and strengthening music education in schools and expanded the range of work to include music and cognition research and school district partnerships. This resulted in Chula Vista Elementary School District (CVESD), California’s largest K-6 district returning music and arts education to all 45 of its campuses and all 29,000 of its students. CVESD now has over 90 visual and performing arts teachers after fifteen years with zero.

Dalouge's has been profiled by the The Atlantic, BBC, Huffington Post, National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Education Partnership/Education Commission of the States, NAMM Foundation, Grantmakers for the Arts, Americans for the Arts, League of American Orchestras, Board Source, California School Board Association, and California Alliance for Arts Education. San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory received the 2011 Kaleidoscope Award for Exceptional Governance from University of San Diego, the 2012 national Grand Prize Prudential Leadership Award for Exceptional Nonprofit Boards from Board Source. and the 2015 Yale Music School Award for Excellence in Music Education.

Dalouge serves as Vice President of El Sistema USA and is past Vice President of California Arts Advocates and was founding President of Californians for the Arts. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in World Arts and Cultures from UCLA, studied Gandhi’s non-violent political movement for a year in India, and grew up singing Irish folk songs at family gatherings around his grandfather’s piano.