Barry Smith
Barry Smith, Senior Director, Southern Africa, heads the Synergos Southern Africa Regional Office in Cape Town. He is responsible for overall management and development of the Synergos program in Southern Africa, with a particular focus on South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
- More from Barry Smith
- Social Change: Who Will Make It Happen? (2009)
- About Community Foundations (video comments) (2008)
- Social Justice and Inclusive Partnerships (2007)
- Finding solutions to complex social problems in South Africa (2007)
- Building a culture of giving and "social justice philanthropy" in South Africa (2006)
Barry's career in the region began in 1981 when he was posted as Botswana Field Director for World University Service of Canada. Subsequently, he served for nearly 14 years as founding Executive Director of INTERFUND, an anti-apartheid, democracy-building grantmaker that played a significant role in the struggle for social justice and development in Southern Africa.
In the 1990s, Barry was the convenor of the Northern NGOs and Foundations Network in South Africa. A founder and former Board member of the Southern African Grantmakers' Association (SAGA), he also served on the South African government's National Development Agency Implementation Committee, chairing its Finance and Fundraising Team. More recently, he was a technical advisor to the establishment of the Southern Africa Trust, which supports pro-poor policy collaboration in the region. Currently, Barry serves on the Synergos Southern Africa Advisory Board and is a member of the Coordinating Committee for Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support (WINGS).
Before joining Synergos in November 2002, Mr. Smith was the London-based Director of Development and Public Affairs for CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. Born and raised in Canada, Barry holds a BA (Honours) degree in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario and an MA (Politics) from Warwick University (UK), where he studied as a UK Commonwealth Scholar.
