Brian D. Smith

Dominion Solution Founder & CEO

For Founder Brian D. Smith, the mission of Dominion Solution is personal.

As a young man growing up in the projects (and without a father to guide him), Brian experienced the challenges of rising above one’s circumstances first-hand.

With his mother as his guiding light, Brian tried to walk the straight-and-narrow. But sometimes he was put in bad situations. And he didn’t always have the tools to make the right choice.

Brian’s mother, having the persistence and foresight to surround him with some positive influences, saw to it that Brian connected with a mentor at school. One of his teachers took Brian under his wing.

“Brian, what do you want to do with your life?” the teacher asked.

At the time, Brian was on the basketball team. He saw basketball as his only way out. “Well, I’d like to play pro ball someday,” Brian replied to his teacher.

“Brian, I’ve seen you play. You’re short, untalented… maybe good enough for high school ball… but there’s no future there. What are you really gonna do with your life?”

Brian left feeling hurt and dejected. His dreams were shattered.

That night, he looked out his bedroom window in the projects and he had a revelation – he did want more from his life. He wanted the opportunities and tools to get out of the projects. He’d just never envisioned it before. He’d never known anything else.

The next day, he went back to his teacher. “Ok, I know I don’t have a future in pro ball,” Brian conceded. “But I do want more from my life.”

“Great,” his teacher replied. “Now, we’re going to make a plan. You’re going to work hard. You’re going to meet with all your teachers, stay for study hours after school, and bring your grades up. Then, you’re going to apply to colleges.”

Thanks to the guidance and support of his teacher, the plan worked. Brian went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science Pre-Law from Wilberforce University and a Masters of Public Administration (with a concentration in Urban Development) from Ohio University.

Brian’s life and career were on an upward trajectory. He became the proud parent of a daughter, Donita. He later married his beautiful wife, Sharon, with whom he had 3 more amazing children - Nia, Aliyah, and Brian Jr.

All-the-while, Brian advanced in his career and took on a variety of professional roles in prevention services, residential services, and community programming that would become well-suited to his being at the helm of Dominion Solution.

In his work in prevention services, Brian promoted the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities through a variety of prevention strategies and activities designed to reduce the risk factors associated with substance abuse, violence, and school failure.

In his work in residential services, Brian worked with children in intensive care units, behavior modification programs, and positive peer culture programs. He developed individual service plans to help juvenile delinquents change the course of their lives and begin to move forward as assets to society. He also provided counseling and group therapy to help residents deal with internal issues and recognize destructive patterns that needed to change.

Simultaneous to his career advancement, Brian launched Dominion Solution with some like-minded individuals who shared in the desire to develop programming that would give youth the tools to live safe, significant, successful lives.

In 2016, he was awarded the President’s Volunteer Service Award for his work in the community. But - as life’s joys are often balanced by sorrows - Brian’s wife and biggest supporter, Sharon, was too ill to make it to the award ceremony. She would eventually lose her battle with breast cancer.

Today, Brian’s aim is to keep his wife’s memory alive with a continually evolving and improving program in Dominion Solution – a program that Brian’s wife always believed was a part of his life’s purpose.

After working through the loss of his wife, Brian’s purpose was delayed, but not denied.

The revitalized Dominion Solution program is now being adopted across the country.

And, as Brian’s wife always believed, it is helping uncover the dreams of our youth and helping them turn those visions into reality.