Merran Smith is President of New Economy Canada, bringing decades of award-winning leadership uniting industry, government, and civil society partners to solve society’s most pressing social and ecological challenges. She is broadly recognized as a fearless advocate and national thought leader in advancing Canada’s clean, zero carbon economy.
Since establishing Clean Energy Canada in 2010, Merran has been at the forefront of public policy discourse and solution building for Canada to win in the global energy transition. Earlier, her leadership in the landmark Great Bear Rainforest agreement led to the protection of BC’s coastal rainforest ecosystems and set a new standard for collaboration between Indigenous and Crown governments, and across sectors.
Merran has served as co-chair of BC’s Climate Solutions Council which informed the province’s first comprehensive climate plan, CleanBC, and co-chair of Natural Resources Canada’s Generation Energy Council. She represents Canada on the C3E International Ambassador Corps and is a Fellow at Simon Fraser University.
Merrans leadership has been formally recognized through Vancouver Magazine’s Power 50, SFU’s President’s Social Media Newsmaker Award, Clean Energy BC’s Lifetime Achievement award, Vancouver Board of Trade’s Wendy McDonald Community Catalyst award, and the Clean 16 award for leadership in clean capitalism.
