Colin Smoak

Chairman, the Harbour Club

The first thing that I remember of Colin, when we first met at the Harbour Club, is how friendly and welcoming he was toward this perfect stranger, me, who he had just met.That quality is so very predominant in what Colin does every day. He simply likes people, all kind of people, and he loves to connect.

His sense of inclusion and kindness drives him today as the Chairman of the Harbour Club, freshly relaunched in June of 2021 at 22 Westedge. I had the great fortune to sit down with Colin for an interview just before I made this portrait. Here we were, two Europeans in Charleston, Colin spent most of his first 17 years in England and Germany, while I grew up in Italy,  talking about a disparate series of topics.Colin loved soccer since he was a kid and he taught the sport in Charleston decades ago, when it was very much a novelty for the US. In fact, he became the youngest college soccer head coach in South Carolina, a title that he still holds today.

Colin and I talked at length about diversity and justice, two topics very dear to both of us and I find it very appropriate that, by a chance of circumstances,

I'm writing this on Martin Luther King Day 2022. Colin opened up during our talk and let me know that he had witnessed his first episodes of racial conflict while he was in high school in Charleston, during the "pep rallies" before a football game. That was new to him because growing up he had not seen this before - none of the racial past of the US was part of his background. But it was front and center that day in high school. That experience brought the racial issues to his attention and made him realize that being non-racist was not enough, it was necessary to become actively anti-racist, a practice that permeates Colin's work to this day.

Paolo: How do you express this anti-racism activity?

Colin: In a variety of ways. I started a Zoom group two and a half years ago, called "Uncomfortable Conversations." I didn't come up with the title. It's from an American football player named Emmanuel Acho.  Emmanuel is an articulate and educated young African-American man who was forced out of the NFL due to injuries to become a prominent NFL commentator.

In the wake of the George Floyd murder and other similar murders of African American people, Emmanuel created a series of videos called "Uncomfortable conversations with a Black Man," with the intended audience of white people. And he told me: "let me, a black man, tell you Colin, you're a white man. Let me tell you what black people are about and what is offensive to us, what isn't offensive to us and how we think you should be sensitive, how we should be sensitive to you too so we can communicate effectively and meaningfully."So, in my group, which can be between 8 and 20 people, we have conversations about these themes and we work to understand.

Paolo: How did that series of uncomfortable conversations evolve?

Colin: The work we are engaged in is getting attention from many, that once they hear our mission, want to join us too.  Once we exhausted the work of Emmanuel Acho, we started studying contemporary events and inviting relevant speakers. Speakers like Amber Johnson, who is the Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion Manager for the City of Charleston.We've invited LaVanda Brown , the executive director of the YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association). The YWCA works to remove inequality for black women, that's their stated and intentional goal. And so one thing lead to another and now we relate with a variety of organizations working to eliminate inequality.

Paolo: That is fantastic! Now, getting to a completely different subject, you are the Chairman of the Board of Governors at the Harbour Club. Is there any connection with what we just discussed and the club?

Colin: When I was tapped to become Chairman, I made clear that these issues are important to me and that I would bring them to the club to expand the club’s diversity. I have a very intentional attitude and a very intentional strategy for the Harbour Club to lead a membership that resembles the community we live in. BNG, our owner group led locally by Jim Coyne, has embraced our efforts, and has set a high standard of leading from the front. A diverse membership is a strong and sustainable membership.

Paolo: That's interesting that you are talking about this because one of the factors that encouraged me to join the club was that I noticed a lot of diversity in it. 

Colin: The change has been idling in the Club for some time, but it is now very intentional. Because of a generous donation from a Board member, we are now annually awarding scholarships to a group of young and diverse leaders. We went into the 2021 selection process with the intention to promote the conversation and see where it would take us - we succeeded beyond our expectations resulting in 15 new leader members!  It bodes well for the future of the club. Now, our attention is drawn to the Class of 2022 and the exciting potential this class will give us!

And that is why Colin Smoak is a Lowcountry Influential.

Please visit the other pages of the Lowcountry influentials and read their stories too.