WASHINGTON (July 30, 2020) – Before earning his bachelor's degree in business administration at Howard University, Jeron Smith was a three-year member (2005-08) of the men's basketball team after transferring from UCLA. During his time as a Bison, he played over 75 games under Gil Jackson.
 
After HU, he went on to obtain a pair of master's degrees from Georgetown University (2009) and Columbia University (2012).
 
Smith began his career utilizing those degrees as a Brand Marketing Strategic Lead across several categories and territories at Nike, Inc. Some notable highlights include promoting the Basketball Never Stops campaign, launching the Nike+ digitally connected footwear proposition in Europe and Asia, and leading the inaugural Jordan Brand Space in Los Angeles.
 
Under President Barack Obama's tenure, Smith joined the White House Office of Digital Strategy where he developed and implemented a comprehensive digital strategy for the Executive Office of the President.
 
After leaving the world of politics, Smith founded the Sony Incubation Lab, designed to break down barriers that often exist for non-traditional storytellers in front of and behind the camera. This created meaningful pathways for athletes, musicians, designers, artists, and other recognizable names in culture to create and develop content was the main objective.
 
In April 2018, Smith, alongside business partner three-time NBA Champion Stephen Curry, founded Unanimous Media. Unanimous, in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment, develops and produces television, film and digital content, including documentaries Jump Shot and Emanuel (Starz) and television shows Holey Moley (ABC) and Stephen vs. The Game (Facebook Watch).
 
His partnership with Curry extends to Stephen Curry 30, Inc., where he serves as Chief Marketing Officer, overseeing Curry's holistic brand strategy and partnership portfolio. In his role, Smith developed an industry-leading benchmark formula for player marketing and engineered unprecedented partnership deals with Facebook, Sony, YouTube, Rakuten and Tencent.
 
Other accomplishments include being recognized on Forbes' 2015 30 under 30 list for Marketing and Advertising and 2019 Ad Age 40 Under 40. His expertise in digital marketing is also highlighted through his published research in the International Journal of Mobile Marketing.
 
About Where Are They Now?
 
The new weekly series of "Where Are They Now?" appears each Thursday throughout the year.
 
The series will feature former student-athletes from all sports and eras, highlighting their careers as athletes at the University and what they are presently doing.
 
All interested former athletes and their coaches should submit a short bio, a recent head shot and contact information on how they can be reached via email to Lauren Stewart (lauren.stewart@bison.howard.edu) and Derek W. Bryant (derek.bryant@howard.edu).
 
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at www.HUBison.com.