HERstory: Kynnedy Simone Smith

Welcome back to The She Shall Speak Series! Today, we are featuring another episode in our HERstory series: a collection of stories of young Black women and girls who are leading the way for positive social change in their communities. Tune in to learn more about Kynnedy Simone Smith and her journey to activism,  entrepreneurship, and STEM! 

A native of Northeast Ohio, 19 yr old Kynnedy Simone Smith is a Steminist, ARTivist, Activist, entrepreneur, and aspiring software developer. As a freshman at Columbia University, her studies are focused on computer science and cognitive sciences with an interest in artificial intelligence. She has completed research in predictive data analytics, digital mapping, and gamification at institutions like NYU, Davidson College, and MIT. Kynnedy combines her passion of STEM with her love of the arts as a violinist with over eleven years of classical and contemporary music study. She has performed on both national and international stages as part of an ensemble, orchestra, and solo. Her combined interests play a huge role in her civic engagement and leadership tenure. She is the founder of I Art Cleveland, a nonprofit focused on connecting under-served youth with access to arts education, programming, and funding, and Chat(Her) Talks, an online speakers series for youth designed to connect, empower and build a sisterhood of global leaders. Through arts and community building, her personal mission is to bridge the inequities in developmental opportunities for youth based on race, class, and gender.   Kynnedy is an Inaugural Oprah Winfrey Leadership Scholar, Coca Cola Scholar, National Horatio Alger Scholar, Ron Brown Scholar, Questbridge Scholar, KPMG Future Leader Scholar, Amazon Future Engineer Scholar, Generation Google Scholar, Burger King Scholar, Elks Most Valuable Student Regional Scholar, 2020 HerLead Fellow, 2019 Disney Dreamer, and has received many honors and awards on the local level. She graduated high school as the Phi Beta Kappa Honoree, delivering what is traditionally known as the Valedictorian speech, and was inducted into the Cum Laude Society. Kynnedy’s future career goal is to own her own software company that addresses the needs of marginalized populations using artificial intelligence. Her leadership journey has been highlighted in two upcoming books, Unbossed: How Black Girls Are Leading the Way, and Black Girls Unbossed: Young World Changers Leading the Way.