Scott Smith is a financial and tax expert who has made significant contributions to the industry. He is the director of The Foundation for a Better Economy and a partner in the C Squared Fund. With his pioneering work in structured finance on Wall Street, he originated the first mixed-property commercial mortgage conduit, securing a billion-dollar line of credit from DLJ. He also developed the model for securitizing loans that became the cornerstone for mortgage-backed securities used today.

Scott has an extensive background in financing and helped structure the financing for the first phase of President Nelson Mandela’s Redevelopment Program, which provided affordable housing for some 11,000 families near Soweto, South Africa. His experience paved the way to provide housing for many more families throughout the nation.

Scott’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to co-found several successful companies, including Massively Parallel Technologies, Fathym, and FinaTech. These companies specialize in developing software platforms that automate the analysis and parallelization of legacy code, hosting apps in the cloud, and improving yields for investors in private equity funds.

Scott’s passion for education has led him to co-found two Colorado charter schools, Summit Middle School, and Peak-to-Peak Charter School, which have been ranked among the top schools in the nation. His expertise in finance and tax reform is demonstrated in his book, A Tale of Two Economies. The book develops the basis for a Congressional bill that would replace income taxes with a payments tax, which would balance the budget, provide basic income, healthcare, and college for all U.S. citizens.

Scott lives in Florida with his wife, Sheri, founder of the Indigo Education Company. As a financial and tax expert, Scott continues to make significant contributions to the industry and society at large.