Smith is an incoming Master in Public Policy candidate at Harvard Kennedy School, where she is a Gleitsman Leadership Fellow. Smith graduated summa cum laude from American University with a B.A. in Political Science (Gender, Race, and Politics), a minor in African American Studies, and a Certificate in Advanced Leadership Studies. At American University, Denia became a prominent voice on campus advocating for racial and gender justice. As the Co-President of the Black Student Union, Director of Students for Change, and member of the Advancing Campus Safety Work Group, Denia collaborated with student leaders and administrators to foster safe spaces for Black students and individuals from marginalized social identities. During her junior year, Denia was selected as the recipient of the Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholarship for Public Service, a two-year leadership development and scholarship program supporting the next generation of public servants. Through the Voyager Scholarship, Denia embarked to Chicago, IL, Boston, MA, Washington D.C., Memphis, TN, and Barcelona, Spain, exploring how NGOs and local governments can advance policies to protect Black women and girls from the harms of the criminal justice system. 

Growing up as one of few Black students in West Windsor, New Jersey, Denia was exposed to racial inequities in her educational system, from disparate treatment among educators to the absence of Black and Brown voices in the curriculum. These injustices reached a climax in 2020 when the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, coupled with a racist TikTok incident in her hometown, moved her to act. Within a week, Denia mobilized 1000 community members for a #BlackLivesMatter march, one of the largest in her town. Recognizing the need to sustain the monument from the march, Denia curated a tangible action plan composed of modifications in school policy, educational curricula, and community programming rooted in anti-racist pedagogy and practice. After presenting the plan to the superintendent, Denia launched the POC Advocacy, a grassroots organization mobilizing 80 students in partnership with educators and administrators to form restorative disciplinary policies, remove racially discriminatory textbooks, and host programming on racial bias, reaching 400 community members spanning 5 middle and high schools. In 2022, the school district adopted tenets from the action plan into a district goal for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), documenting commitments toward education justice impacting the lives of 5,000 students. Denia's work at the POC Advocacy led to her appointment to Harvard Graduate School of Education's (HGSE) Making Caring Common (MCC) Youth Advisory Board, where she provided strategic input to inform MCC's initiatives promoting DEI in K-12 schools across the United States. 

Following her time at HGSE, Denia was selected from 500 applicants to serve as a Global Teen Advisor to the United Nations Foundation's (UNF) Girl Up campaign, advising the executive director and staff members on organizational strategy and campaigns impacting 270,000 constituents in all 50 U.S. states and 155 countries. During her tenure, Denia contributed to deliberations on partnerships with Hershey and Hasbro and convened with global leaders on virtual panels-- reaching over 20,000 audience members-- to center youth voices in the fight for gender justice. She served as a panelist at Girl Up's 2021 Global Leadership Summit ("Day of Action Fireside Chat: Intersectionality in Organizing"), co-emcee of the inaugural Sports Innovation Lab, panelist at Girl Up's Global Fitness Challenge, and moderator at the 2022 Global Leadership Summit ("Bodily Autonomy & Gender-Based Violence ft. Tarana Burke). Amidst the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Denia convened with youth leaders across the world as a panelist at "Girl Talk: Critical Conversations on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice (SRHRJ)," to shed light on global strategies to protect reproductive freedom. She was also featured in "Leading Between The Lines," a LinkedIn newsletter by Girl Up's executive director, Melissa Kilby, to highlight the disparate impact of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health decision on Black women and girls. As a representative of Girl Up at UNF's Big Brainstorm, Denia convened with 30 youth leaders to collectively strategize on ways to advance gender equality across youth-focused organizations. Denia was also nominated to attend an intergenerational dialogue with Action Group leaders from the United Nations Generation Equality Forum (GEF) to discuss the integration and support of youth activists in the GEF process. 

Denia also served as the Coalition Leader of the Mid-Atlantic Coalition at Girl Up, where she mobilized youth leaders across 100 clubs based in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) to advance gender justice. Within her role, Denia executed events in partnership with Movement for Choice to raise funds for the D.C. Abortion Fund, presented a workshop on the intersections of climate and racial justice at the United Nations Foundation to 30 youth leaders, and organized a delegation of 15 activists to represent Girl Up at The White House for Dr. Jill Biden's inaugural Girls Leading Change event in honor of International Day of the Girl Child. Denia also spearheaded a leadership summit convening 50 high school students at the United Nations Foundation's headquarters to strengthen their leadership development skills, facilitate networking opportunities with local organizers, and pack 1,000 menstrual hygiene products for adolescent girls in the DMV. In her day-to-day life, Denia led an executive board of 6 activists to build community partnerships, connect with local club leaders, and communicate grassroots developments to headquarters. Denia's commitment to gender justice extended to her work at PERIOD., a global youth-fueled nonprofit working to eradicate period poverty and stigma through advocacy, education, and service. As the Vice Chair of PERIOD.'s Youth Advisory Council, Denia advised staff on inclusive methods to center communities disproportionately affected by menstrual inequity. During her tenure, Denia assessed and analyzed menstrual health education standards compiled by the District of Columbia Public Schools, co-authored a Zine amplifying the voices of menstrual equity activists, presented at Women's March's National Convention on period poverty, and spoke at a congressional briefing alongside The Fibroid Foundation, Alliance for Period Supplies, Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR), Congresswoman Grace Meng, Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, on naming May as Menstrual Health Awareness Month. 

Denia's work at Girl Up and PERIOD., coupled with her passion for racial justice, led her to create She Shall Speak. She Shall Speak started as a podcast amplifying the voices of Gen-Z Black women, girls, and non-binary individuals catalyzing social change across the globe. Through She Shall Speak, Denia facilitated introspective conversations on Black womanhood, leadership, and social impact with 20 interviewees, including award-winning entrepreneur Olamide Olowe; activists and poet Fatimata Cham; UNICEF Youth Consultant Alliyah Logan, and gun-prevention activist Kayla Austin, among others. The platform reached viewers across 25 U.S. states and 20 countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Canada, South Africa, Zambia, Nigeria, and Ghana, among others. Online, She Shall Speak co-launched, in partnership with Revolutionnaire, a social media campaign  (#VoicesforChange) amplifying the voices of 30 Black collegiate changemakers across 8 institutions, garnering 38,705 streams. In November 2022, Denia received a $1,500 grant toward She Shall Speak from The Taco Bell Foundation and Ashoka Changemakers through the inaugural Ambition Accelerator. In October 2023, Denia presented her work with She Shall Speak at the United Nations ECOSOC Chamber in honor of International Day of the Girl Child, hosted by The Working Group on Girls. Her remarks underscored the importance of centering Black women and girls at decision-making tables and were addressed to Sima Bahous, Executive Director of U.N. Women, Genevieve Boutin, UNICEF Deputy Director for Programmes, and representatives from The Permanent Missions of Canada, Peru, and Turkiye to the U.N., among 100 stakeholders present in the room. In 2026, Denia re-launched She Shall Speak as a nonprofit organization committed to cultivating and strengthening the leadership capacity of young women of color in advocacy, activism, and public service. The organization’s seminal program– the Bethune Leadership Fellowship– brought 25 fellows from across the country together for an 8-week accelerated leadership development experience.

Denia has used her experiences to pour into the lives of Black women and girls seeking to enact positive social change. As a coaching fellow at Women Empowering Nation's Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) Global Cohort, Denia facilitates small group coaching sessions with members from  14 countries, providing personalized support and mentorship to help participants achieve their personal and professional goals. 

In March 2024, Denia served as a representative of the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) to the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. As a delegate, Denia convened with leaders across the globe to examine pathways toward centering the voices of women and girls of color in poverty alleviation solutions. She continued this pivotal work as the Youth Mobilization Advisor at Black Professionals in International Affairs (BPIA), a 501c3 nonprofit organization founded in 1989 to increase the involvement of African Americans and those of African descent in international affairs. At BPIA, Denia co-chaired the Youth Working Group, spearheading the cultivation of a youth engagement strategy to effectively incorporate the voices of Black youth in the realm of international affairs. 

Denia has embarked on professional experiences at The Office of Vice President Kamala Harris at The White House, the U.S. House of Representatives, Vital Voices Global Partnership, PolicyLink, and the African American Policy Forum, to explore how to advance racial and gender justice in governmental systems. As a result of her extensive advocacy, Denia has been featured by The United Nations Foundation, Estee Lauder Companies, Black Enterprise, Good Morning America, Yahoo Finance, The New York Amsterdam News, The Sacramento Observer. She has also participated in prestigious leadership programs, including Black Girls Lead! hosted by BLACK GIRLS ROCK!® and The Disney Dreamers Academy hosted by Walt Disney World and Essence Magazine. She has been honored as a John R. Lewis Scholar by The Faith & Politics Institute, Princeton Prize in Race Relations Certificate of Accomplishment honoree, New Jersey Rising Scholar (New Jersey Department of Education), Vital Voices Visionary Fellow (Vital Voices & The Estee Lauder Emerging Leadership Fund), and presented a $10,000 scholarship as an NAACP & Lancôme Write Her Future Scholar. In 2022, Denia was also selected from 1,600 applicants to join Women Empowering Nation and Cantu Beauty’s Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) Cohort, an immersive, high-impact leadership coaching experience. Following her MPP, Smith plans to pursue a career in state and local government, with the long-term goal of serving the people of New Jersey in elected office.