Ryan Smith was appointed in 2021 to serve as the Director of the City of Durham’s new Community Safety Department. Ryan joined the City in 2017 where he had previously served as the Innovation Team Director. As the I-Team Director, much of Smith’s work focused on criminal justice reform. Smith led a team that worked to help residents remove criminal charges from their permanent record and increase employability, restore driving privileges for more residents, lower jail and prison recidivism by providing greater supports to people returning home from incarceration, and other efforts to reduce fines and fees for residents, especially low-income residents. Previously, Smith served as Director of Innovation and Strategic Initiatives for Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and as campaign director for Congressman David Price, and worked in development for a diverse array of non-profits with missions ranging from teaching documentary photography to recently resettled refugee youth to providing free preschool to children living in poverty. Ryan holds a Master's in Public Policy and Master's in Theological Studies from Duke.