If commitment to public service doesn’t come naturally to SMART Program Director Janet Cameron, it definitely comes through nurturing.

Growing up in Dearborn, Michigan, the youngest of three children began volunteering at age 10, tagging along while her father worked in a community soup kitchen. “When I was 13, I started tutoring at a local elementary school. While in college, I volunteered as a hotline operator at the local women’s shelter,” says Janet, who, in addition to leading SMART’s youth program, recently became Program Director for all the organization’s programming, including SMART University.

Janet came to SMART through her field placement for her Masters of Social Work degree from Columbia University. After graduation, she became a full-time employee in May 2007.

Before that, she earned an undergraduate degree in History from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, and then spent two years in New York working as a foster care caseworker prior to pursuing her graduate degree.

A Major Overhaul

“I don’t think I deliberately set out to work with children and adolescents, it just worked out that way,” says Janet, who faced a unique opportunity when she took over SMART Youth.

SMART Youth started primarily as a recreational and creative arts program. Although fun for the youth, the program was not creating the environment to help the youth grow. As a result, SMART’s executive management intervened and temporarily discontinued the program for a month in January 2007 to evaluate and restructure the program in order to reaffirm its primary mission and goals. Janet assisted in the assessment process and provided a cohesive direction for the program when it resumed in February 2007.

Now, SMART Youth focuses on project-based activities to achieve the goal of youth development and leadership. Some of these projects include yoga and cooking classes (in collaboration with City Harvest) to provide the youth with the tools needed to achieve a healthy lifestyle. In addition to learning tools to improve their lives, the youth also engage in projects that give back to the community.

“Time is structured, but not restrictive,” Janet explains, with the most important piece being that the youth provide the input in helping guide which projects they pursue. This can-do initiative spreads over to other projects, with Janet offering the nurturing and advice necessary to keep the kids on track.

“If they want to do something, we try and do it,” she says. For example, creating Public Service Announcements wasn’t on Janet’s radar, but the teens’ enthusiasm for developing video projects resulted in “Love Glove,” a three-minute PSA which will air on Manhattan Neighborhood Network.

Planning and Doing

Long-term, SMART Youth’s greatest success has been its Annual Halloween Party, which brings together HIV positive and affected youth from all five boroughs.

Starting each August, The Planning Committee – comprised primarily of youth working under Janet’s supervision – organizes and implements every facet of this much-anticipated evening.

The Halloween Party showcases the talents and initiative of the youth involved in its preparation, while providing a safe and fun social experience. Their efforts have made it the flagship event for SMART Youth, Cameron says.

More Than Meets the Eye

“SMART Youth has a number of different layers,” Janet adds. “We also do prevention. For example, we’ve been asked to be part of two health summits in 2008. I’ll represent the organization during the planning meetings and then return and report back to the youth.”

The group also participates in outside events like “National Women and Girls HIV Awareness Day” (March 10th) and collaborates with the Social Justice Club of the Young Women’s Leadership School in East Harlem. “They always do the AIDS Walk with us and hold fundraisers for SMART in their school, like bake sales,” she adds.

Long-term, Janet’s goals for both SMART Youth and SMART University include “building leadership within the groups so that women and youth can feel a sense of ownership and want to take on other roles within SMART.”

“I’m also committed to fulfilling the mission of creating programs that the women and youth not only want but need,” Janet adds.