Eric Morrison-Smith is the new executive director of the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color (ABMoC).
The appointment is a promotion from within as Morrison-Smith has served as the organization’s California policy director for about six months.
Morrison-Smith arrived at the ABMoC last November from a position as policy associate with the national research and action institute, PolicyLink, which focuses its mission on racial and economic equity. As ABMoC is under the PolicyLink organizational umbrella and both are in Oakland, CA, he was able to keep working for PolicyLink until March of this year alongside his duties at ABMoC.
As a native of San Diego, Morrison-Smith first came to PolicyLink after a three-year stint as a strategic partnerships & communications specialist at the San Diego Workforce Partnership. While there he led the OpportunitySD initiative, which brought together and mobilized community partners to connect youth to education and employment opportunities.
Morrison-Smith’s first career position also served the youth of his hometown. He had left for Nebraska to attend Doane University and then Peru State College. After earning a bachelor’s degree in business management he returned to San Diego and became a program manager for youth leadership development at RISE San Diego, a community and civic engagement nonprofit.
“As our Executive Director, I am committed to leading from a principled position that centers directly-impacted people, grassroots organizations, and building power to abolish systems of oppression and transform the material conditions of the Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color,” said Morrison-Smith in a twitter post about his appointment. “Our team is ready to enter the next phase of our work and to continue advancing the radical vision of the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color network.”
Eric Morrison-Smith has already assumed the duties of executive director at the Alliance for Boys and Men of Color, succeeding Marc Philpart, who is leaving after nearly 11 years for a position as the first executive director of the California Black Freedom Fund.
