Insights
As a businessman, engineer, and philanthropist, Robert F. Smith has been invited to speak on a wide range of issues.
Robert F. Smith discusses the importance of building a new and diverse generation of leaders, starting with ensuring students in all communities have the support they need to pursue future opportunities. According to Smith, overcoming racism has always been the biggest issue he’s had to face personally. His mission is to ensure the next generation of leaders can get ahead.
Robert F. Smith shares his parents’ inspiring legacy and lessons learned. Both school teachers and his mother, a principal, Smith’s parents taught him the value of education. Committed to helping their community, his parents focused on ensuring the children in their community had the academic preparation they needed to succeed in life. As the first generation in his family within the country to have all of their rights, Smith continues to be inspired by his family and those who have fought for civil rights to create a better society.
Robert F. Smith explains how a working knowledge of how to code can be taught at a proficiency level in less than a year, and can subsequently create a lifelong career and open many doors for the individuals who learn to code.
Robert F. Smith, Founder Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, talks about the internship that changed his life, and how he sees internship programs as a way to provide students with valuable learning opportunities and allows companies to access top talent and put students in a position where they can become better leaders in the future.