Taiya Smith
Principal Associate
Taiya Smith is the Director of the China Program at the Climate Leadership Council, Chief Executive officer of Phyllis Technologies, and Principal Associate with The MacroDyn Group.
Taiya Smith currently leads the Climate Leadership Council’s work in China where she focuses on the nexus of climate change and economic growth, including carbon pricing and trade. In addition, she leads an initiative to create a dynamic map of the global carbon supply chain. Previously, as Managing Partner at Garnet Strategies, Smith advised multinational companies, financial institutions, and trade associations on climate and energy policy, U.S.-China relations, geopolitical risk, and matters arising in global forums. Smith. also served as an expert advisor to U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern in the lead up to the Paris Accord. As Deputy Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary to Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, Smith led the U.S.- China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED), a cabinet level bilateral dialogue. She managed the U.S. negotiating team across seven government departments and established the U.S.–China Ten Year Framework on Energy and the Environment and the EcoPartnership program, both of which served as the platform for U.S.- China cooperation on climate change across U.S. administrations. At Treasury, Smith worked with teams to find new ways to support climate oriented action including the creation of the Climate Investment Funds at the World Bank.
Prevoiusly, Smith served as special assistant to Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick advising on for Africa, Europe, and political/military affairs. Prior to that, Smith was the State Department’s point person on Darfur, spending much of her time in Darfur working with international donors, the Sudanese government and rebel factions. Prior to joining the government, she served as a member of the facilitation team for the Burundi Peace Negotiations led by Nelson Mandela.
Smith holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a M.P.P. from the Kennedy School of Government. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the National Committee on United States-China Relations. She is an external advisor to McKinsey & Company and a nonresident Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Smith is a regular speaker on China, climate change, and the U.S.-China relationship. An avid horse rider, mountaineer, and aspiring alpine skier, Smith resides with her husband and three children in Washington, DC and at their farm in Rappahannock County, Virginia.
