Haley Morgan Smith is a Good Neighbor Architect who turns the in-between into belonging.

Born biracial in Rockmart, Georgia, in the hills of Appalachia, Haley grew up learning to navigate spaces that did not always know where to place her. Her family and community taught her to work with grit and grace and to believe that difference did not have to create distance. It could become a bridge.

That lesson has shaped her life and leadership: bringing together people who might not naturally find themselves at the same table and helping them discover what they can build together.

At fifteen, Haley went from leading worship in a rural church of seventy people to standing on stage each week at North Point Community Church, then one of the fastest-growing congregations in the country. She spent her early years traveling with camps and conferences, learning how to hold the attention of thousands with a guitar and a story. Those experiences gave her an early understanding of the power of story and relationships to bring people together.

Her work expanded into nonprofit and community leadership at The Rethink Group (ORANGE), where she served as Rural Strategy Director and co-founded For Our Neighbors, an initiative that brought churches, schools, civic leaders, young people, and neighbors together around the future of their communities. She also helped design curriculum adopted by more than 6,000 churches and schools nationwide.

Much of that work happened in small towns like the one that raised her. In one community where a Confederate flag had long flown over city hall, Haley worked alongside young people and community leaders as years of relationship-building eventually culminated in its voluntary removal. It reinforced something she had already come to believe: lasting change is rarely about getting everyone to agree. It is about building enough trust for people to move forward together.

Haley carried that experience into higher education as the inaugural Chief Belonging and Community Engagement Officer at Berry College, a cabinet-level role shaping the institution's approach to belonging, community engagement, and access. She created the Berry College Good Neighbor Framework, directed more than 42,000 hours of student service annually, representing approximately $1.46 million in local impact, stewarded multimillion-dollar endowments, and led scholarship and service programs designed to widen educational opportunity. She also helped Berry secure the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification.

Haley's longstanding relationship with The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change has continued through several chapters of her career. She brought that relationship into her work at Berry, helping establish a formal partnership between the institutions. Today, she serves as a strategic partner to the King Center, supporting strategic planning and partnership development.

After years of leading this work in nonprofits, communities, and higher education, Haley brought it into a much larger arena.

Today, Haley serves as U.S. Leader for Community Impact & Partnerships at GHD, a global, employee-owned professional services company with more than 12,000 people in 165 offices across five continents. GHD brings together engineering, architecture, environmental, advisory, digital, and construction expertise, with work spanning water, energy, transportation, and the built environment.

In this national role, Haley is helping shape how GHD builds community impact into its presence across the United States. She also leads the U.S. work of the GHD Foundation, bringing together philanthropic investment, civic and nonprofit partnerships, employee engagement, and relationships with clients and communities.

Her work spans education and opportunity, community resilience, and civic engagement, with a focus on understanding what matters locally and connecting GHD's people, technical expertise, relationships, and resources where they can contribute meaningfully. Across that work is a question that has followed Haley throughout her career:

What does it mean to truly be a good neighbor?

Haley sees community impact and business growth not as competing priorities, but as work that can strengthen one another. By building trust, engaging employees, investing thoughtfully, and developing meaningful relationships with communities and clients, her work helps connect GHD's business presence with the places it calls home.

Haley's commitment to place extends into civic leadership. She was selected for Leadership Georgia, Class of 2026, is an alumna of Leadership Rome, and has also been selected for Leadership North Fulton. Over the course of her career, she has shared stages and collaborated with nationally recognized leaders, including Dr. Bernice A. King, Andy Stanley, and Ruby Bridges. Her civic leadership has been recognized with the Diamond Award for exceptional leadership in civic engagement and the Exceptional 7 Award, recognizing outstanding professionals under 40.

Haley holds a master's degree in Transformational Leadership from Eastern Mennonite University, with a focus on restorative justice and conflict transformation, and a bachelor's degree in Communications from Shorter College. Her additional training includes Kingian Nonviolence, restorative justice in higher education, trauma and resiliency, and mentoring strategy.

Music has remained a thread throughout Haley's life. A songwriter and performer, she was signed to a major record label in her twenties and toured internationally. She continues to make music with longtime collaborator Austen Earp through Kindred Fire, drawing from Appalachian roots and a mix of folk, rock, and soul.

Across every chapter, Haley’s work has been rooted in a simple belief: when we know our neighbors, we can build something better together.