Leslie Lynn Smith

Leslie Lynn Smith is the National Director for GET Cities (Gender Equality in Tech) at SecondMuse Foundation. GET Cities is an initiative designed to accelerate the representation and leadership of women in tech through the development of inclusive tech hubs across the United States. She believes in the importance of building diverse teams that reflect the world people live in. Under Smith’s leadership, GET Cities built on the success of its first city in Chicago and launched its second in Washington, D.C., where it is working to shift power in the local tech economy to women, trans, and non-binary people with a focus on Black, Indigenous, and people of color to transform the industry into an engine for equity.

Leslie is the founding president and CEO of Epicenter, the nonprofit hub of the greater Memphis entrepreneurial movement. Smith’s role in Memphis came after five years of successful entrepreneurial leadership as president and CEO of TechTown, Detroit’s most established business incubator, and accelerator. Previously, she was director of business acceleration for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, overseeing the state’s $300 million start-up investment portfolio and managing the statewide innovation economy and its network of ecosystem partners.