Nadine Smith Keynote Speaker

Executive Director of Equality Florida (2026), and CEO of Color Of Change
One of four national co-chairs of the 1993 March on Washington
Named one of TIME's '100 Most Influential People of 2022'

Nadine Smith's Biography

Nadine Smith, Executive Director of Equality Florida (2026), CEO of Color Of Change, and one of TIME Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People of 2022,” is an award-winning journalist turned organizer and influential speaker on topics affecting the LGBTQ community.

As one of four national co-chairs of the 1993 March on Washington, she was part of the historic meeting with then-President Clinton—the first Oval Office meeting held between a sitting President and gay community leaders.

Nadine went on to serve on the founding board of the International Gay and Lesbian Youth Organization and served on President Obama’s National Finance Committee. She has also been named one of Florida’s “Most Powerful and Influential Women” by the Florida Diversity Council and has received the League of Women Voters’ Woman of Distinction Award. In 2018, Nadine was named one of the 100 Most Influential Floridians by Influence Magazine. She currently serves as chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Florida Advisory Committee.

She has spent nearly three decades on the frontlines of LGBTQ equality as the co-founder and longtime Executive Director of Equality Florida, leading campaigns that shape policy and public debate in one of the toughest state battlegrounds.
She brings national credibility and media authority as a TIME100 honouree and award-winning journalist turned organiser, helping leaders connect values, strategy and real-world impact.
SShe offers first-hand perspective on the evolution of civil rights leadership, having helped lead the 1993 March on Washington and participated in the first Oval Office meeting between a sitting president and LGBTQ community leaders.
She equips organisations to lead through polarisation with practical guidance on coalition-building, message discipline and resilient advocacy, informed by her work chairing the Florida Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.