Derek Henry Smith

Derek Smith is a serial entrepreneur, who has owned and operated successful businesses over the last three decades focused on affordable housing construction and development, sustainability, solar energy, hydrogen generation, carbon capture, electric vehicle charging infrastructure as well as waste plastics recycling and recovery technologies. As an entrepreneur and leader in the construction, real estate development and renewable energy sectors, he has led all facets of business operations from company creation, business development and governmental affairs. Derek is currently leading a small cap company with significant projections for growth, working with Fortune 100 tech companies on their renewable energy carbon reduction strategies. As one of the largest minority renewable energy contractors in the United States, Derek is planning to develop and build GW’s of solar power in CA and throughout the US. These projects will result in the production of millions of metric tons of green hydrogen in the state of CA which has already begun to ban natural gas in many of it’s large cities. Derek has worked on complex mixed use real estate development projects in Northern California, leveraging his expertise in achieving project entitlements on multi-billion dollar public private projects. Having built over 5,000 units in Northern California, his innovative approach to development has yielded partnerships, community engagement and economic development. The $2B Hunter’s Point Shipyard redevelopment project will ultimately have over 2,500 residential housing units with two million square feet of commercial/bioscience space. Derek worked with the master developer, Lennar Corporation and the City and County of San Francisco to secure entitlements and underwrite the Mello-Roos bonds for the first phase of infrastructure construction. He also worked with the community, enabling them to participate in the economic benefits of the project. Derek is currently finishing the development and construction of 78 residential units. Derek’s recent governance experience includes serving as a board member for Hydrogen Development Company (HDC) an experienced hydrogen gas producer with over $50B+ of energy projects in China, Australia, the Middle East and the USA. He serves on the board of a Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) start-up company based in New Jersey. He was recently appointed to the board of the California African American Chamber of Commerce and is a lifetime member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity (Boule). Derek is a partner on the Freedom West 2.0 redevelopment project in the Western Addition of San Francisco. His role includes raising capital, working with local leadership and leading the effort to pass State Legislation SB593 which will provide the City & County $4 billion in funding for 5,800 units of affordable replacement housing units. Derek will also oversee and manage the construction of over 2,500 residential units which are slated to break ground in 2026. He has served as a business consultant for several Fortune 500 companies including Lowe’s, Lennar Corporation, McDonalds, Chevron, GameTime Corp. and Ameresco to name a few. Respected as a credible voice and thought leader, Derek brings expertise in real estate development to navigate complex political, legislative and regulatory risk. Derek holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and an M.S. in Civil Engineering from Stanford University where he received a full fellowship. He has also recently earned a Certificate in Black Corporate Board Readiness from the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University. Derek is a native of San Francisco and has three adult children, Julien (27), Joshua (26) and Jayla (23). He is an avid golfer and skier, fitness enthusiast and world traveler.