Fridays with Daren
Fridays with Daren is a weekly live show hosted by Goldin Solar CEO Daren Goldin and marketing director Dane Myers. In the show, which streams every Friday at 1 PM eastern, Daren and Daren are generally joined by guests who share their expertise in the environment in Florida. In our ninth episode, Daren and Dane are joined by Walter L. Smith, II MLA, BSCE, LEP, an environmental engineer and community advocate. Walter presented “Understanding The Need for Resilience & Environmental Justice in Frontline Communities.”
About this Episode:
This discussion is intended to educate people on the dichotomy involving the narratives that exist in frontline communities regarding the need for disaster resilience building and Environmental Justice. What are those narratives? Why have they been overlooked for so long?
About the Presenter, Walter L. Smith II:
Walter L. Smith, II is a community advocate, political analyst, radio talk show personality, instructor and twenty-year veteran in the field of environmental engineering. His field of expertise is in the field of environmental land use, workforce training and matters involving environmental impact policies and their application to matters of development domestically and abroad.
Mr. Smith is a graduate of the FAMU/FSU College of Engineering and was educated partly at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.
While much of Mr. Smith’s early professional career was with regulatory agencies, like Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and the South Florida Water Management District, most of his experience has been in the private consulting world as a licensed environmental professional conducting environmental due diligence assessments and consulting clients about matters regarding environmental impacts and developing suitable solutions for community revitalization.
Mr. Smith was the Team Leader in charge of FEMA teams assigned to two South Carolina counties in the Lowcountry to assist the victims of Hurricane Matthew with relief needs and eminent storm safety preparedness. He is currently leading the Tampa-Hillsborough Disaster Resilience Initiative with Organize Florida.
Mr. Smith was a 2016 candidate for the Florida House of Representatives, District 61 (Tampa, Florida) and Tampa City Council District 1 at-large. While his campaigns were unsuccessful, he continues to employ his talents to benefit the greater community by way of his board affiliations, social media articles, video broadcasts and two-hour weekly public relations radio show, “The Sunday Forum,” on WMNF-88.5FM.
Follow Walter’s work and get involved:
Organize Florida – https://www.facebook.com/orgfltb/
Tampa Bay Disaster Resilience Initiative Coalition – https://www.facebook.com/groups/tbdri/
About the Host, Daren Goldin:
Daren Goldin is the co-founder and CEO of Goldin Solar, a leading Florida solar contractor company. Goldin Solar has installed over a thousand solar arrays in the state of Florida offsetting over 10 million pounds of CO2 and saving residents more than a million dollars in energy costs.
Watch Episode Nine:
Kevin Arnold
