This is a sponsored interview in partnership with Tecovas.
Dewi Smith is a community connector, a voting motivator, and someone you love the minute you meet her. Smith, who is on the city’s Bond Election Advisory Task Force, gave us a peek into her work.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How would you describe your job in Austin?
“My day job is in tech operations. I say this all the time – I’m like the Kelly Rowland of somebody else’s Beyoncé for customer support.
You’re not gonna see me be the face of the thing. But what you can be sure of is – be it a commission, be it a board seat – I’m gonna ask all of the questions that God ever sent to somebody’s mind. I’m not going to volunteer and not make that time productive.”
Why is the Bond Election Advisory Task Force important?
“Even though 2026 is the year that the bond will be considered, [we are] taking time now to meet and hear from the various city departments about their criteria for prioritizing projects being proposed and for us to get a sense of just the volume of products or projects that need funding.
I’m learning a lot of new lingo and I’m just there for the community. I am like, ‘Yep, I’m gonna ask a regular person question.’
I'm looking at what's being presented. I'm also asking about historically underfunded things. I count myself as a regular old person asking regular old person questions.”
Why should Austinites serve on committees?
“It is so important. If you have the bandwidth, and it's on your heart and (you have) the capacity and the willingness, get on boards of all stripes (and) commissions of all stripes. Be that at the city level, be it for school districts, that representation matters. Because what I now understand as an adult of a very grown age is, where you think decisions are being made, they probably have been made three steps earlier.”
