Matt Smith

Strategic Planning Facilitator

Term expires May 2021

Matthew Smith joined the Character Council of WNY Board of Directors in June 2013. Matt is an Operations Project Engineer in the Commercial Aircraft Division at Moog in East Aurora, NY. Matt holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from GMI Engineering and Management Institute (now Kettering University) and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from SUNY Buffalo.

Good character has always been important to Matt. Character has been instilled in Matt through his family, friends, teachers and coaches from an early age. Matt was raised to always do the right thing, and help others whenever possible.

Matt was introduced to the Character Council of WNY through a program designed to help displaced executives. Suzanne McKenney came in as a guest speaker and gave an amazing speech that just connected with him and those in the group. Her energy, enthusiasm and knowledge of character were infectious. The following week we started developing elevator speeches using character qualities as the foundation and it was amazing how much better they were. Character is such a vital piece of who we are and what we do but rarely do you hear much about it except when someone does something wrong. When you start looking you see character all around you, in every case character makes people better. Since that chance meeting, Matt has been actively connected to the Character Council of WNY, promoting good character wherever he goes.

Matt lives in Amherst, NY with his wife Sarah and three daughters, Emily, Olivia and Sophie. Together they are striving to be a family of character excellence.

Matt is a past deacon and elder at University Presbyterian Church, past president of the Amherst South Rotary Club, board member of the Independent Heath Family Branch YMCA and Chair of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership .Manufacturers Council.

Matt is honored to serve on the Board of Directors for the Character Council of WNY and is committed to the council’s mission of creating a culture of character in our community.