Shepherd Smith, President and Founder

Prior to founding IYD in 1996, Mr. Smith founded and served as president of Americans for a Sound AIDS/HIV Policy (ASAP), a Washington, D.C.-based, national organization dedicated to limiting the total suffering from AIDS/HIV. Having held that position for ten years, Mr. Smith is a recognized authority in the area of unhealthy risk behavior among youth. He has testified before Congress, the Presidential Commission on the HIV Epidemic, the Food and Drug Administration, numerous federal committees and state legislatures on AIDS/HIV education, prevention and intervention strategies as well as risk avoidance programs, particularly as they relate to America's youth.

A nationally-known expert on the risks facing today's youth, Mr. Smith is regularly sought out by the national press. His media appearances include Larry King Live, CBS Evening News, ABC Evening News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, CBS Radio, NBC Radio and National Public Radio. His columns discussing a variety of timely issues routinely appear in newspapers throughout the country.

Mr. Smith was recently appointed by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, Tommy G. Thompson, to serve on the Advisory Committee to the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The committee advises the CDC on policy issues and broad strategies for promoting health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury and disability.

As a member of the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS), Smith has traveled extensively to Africa. During 2002, he led two U.S. delegations to Uganda that included government officials, researchers and philanthropists. During the same year, he also visited South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique and the Ivory Coast as a member of a delegation led by Secretary Thompson.
In addition, he serves or has served on numerous committees including the STD/HIV Prevention Strategies Ad Hoc Panel, U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Center for Prevention Services; the American Red Cross AIDS Literature Review Board; the U.S. Fire Administration's Infectious Disease Advisory Panel; the U.S. Senate's Children's Policy Committee; the Department of Health and Human Services Healthy Adolescents 2010 Committee; the CDC’s School Health Finance Project expert panel; the Surgeon General's Committee on Promoting Responsible Sexual Behaviors; the State of Virginia’s Maternal-Child Health Commission and Family and Community Health Advisory Committee; and the National Academies’ Board on Children, Youth and Families.

Educated at Duke University and the College of William and Mary, Mr. Smith currently resides in northern Virginia with his wife, Anita. He is the father of three children.

Anita M. Smith, Vice President and Co-Founder

As vice president, and co-founder of the Institute for Youth Development, Mrs. Smith oversees IYD operational strategy, networking and resource identification, and provides technical assistance for program development and implementation. She is also an officer of the Children’s AIDS Fund (formerly known as ASAP -- Americans for a Sound AIDS/HIV Policy) a Washington, D.C.-based national organization which she co-founded in 1987 to limit the suffering caused by AIDS/HIV.

As a recognized expert on youth development and AIDS/HIV, Mrs. Smith was appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) in 2002, and currently serves as the chairperson of the PACHA Prevention Committee. From 1999 to 2001, she functioned as senior coordinator for the Virginia Right Choices for Youth Governor’s Conference.

An accomplished writer and researcher, Mrs. Smith has co-authored a wide range of articles on youth development and AIDS/HIV, and has coordinated research on HIV disease and its funding. Her primary research for IYD Youth Facts: Age of Risk Behavior Debut and for America’s Youth: Measuring the Risk was used by the Lone Star Leaders Program developed by President Bush during his tenure as Governor of Texas. Currently, Mrs. Smith is managing editor of Adolescent & Family Health, a peer-reviewed journal that is published each quarter.

Prior to founding IYD in 1996 with her husband, Shepherd Smith, Mrs. Smith served as the program director for the cooperative agreement between ASAP and the Centers for Disease Control's National AIDS Information and Education Program Office. In that capacity, she coordinated a national program designed to educate faith-based communities about HIV/AIDS and engage them in initiatives to eliminate the spread of the disease.

Previously, Mrs. Smith served as director of the ASAP Children's Assistance Fund providing direct emergency financial assistance to HIV-impacted children and their families. During Mrs. Smith’s nine-year tenure, the Children's Assistance Fund grew from serving two children to aiding over 10,000 children.

Mrs. Smith completed her undergraduate and graduate education at Wheaton College. She currently resides in northern Virginia with her husband and son.

Lennie L. Pickard, Vice President, Programs

Lennie Pickard is IYD's Vice President for Programs. Mr. Pickard administers the HHS-funded grant for the Compassion Capital Fund Program, an MCHB contract and two cooperative agreements from the CDC to support abstinence education programs.

As former Federal Program Manager for the Georgia State Board of Education, he was responsible for school improvement activities for Statewide School Improvement, English Language Acquisition, Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, Innovative Programs, Improving Academic Achievement, and Rural Education Initiative and Reading First Programs. Mr. Pickard also served as Administrator for Federal Programs at the Georgia Department of Education.

He has also worked with the Community Relations Service of the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Education, Presidential Commission on Indian Reservation Economies, President’s Council on Management Improvement, President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency, and the Executive Office of the President.

Mr. Pickard earned a B.A. in Government with Certification in Native American Studies from Dartmouth College. He has received a number of distinguished service awards including the Director's Award for Outstanding and Dedicated Service from the U.S. Department of Justice, the Secretary's Award for Meritorious Service from the U.S. Department of Education. Recently, President Bush appointed Lennie to serve on his National Advisory Council on Indian Education.

Lennie is also a member of the American Grant Writers Association and the American Association of Grant Professionals.

Mary Q. Oliver, Director, Educational Services

As IYD's director of educational services, Ms. Oliver develops integrated education strategies with IYD programs targeting specific audiences, such as youth development professionals, educators, civic and business leaders, prevention specialists, and parents. In this capacity, she serves as Project Director for the five-year cooperative agreement awarded to IYD by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Adolescent and School Health with a focus on educating and equipping abstinence educators.

Ms. Oliver is a certified health education specialist with an M.A. in guidance and counseling. For the past 13 years, she has provided training and technical assistance on drug and alcohol prevention, HIV/STD prevention and character-based sexual abstinence to faith-based and community organizations as well as local and state educators. She has served as project director for two Georgia Department of Education Federal programs, a U.S. Department of Education Title IV grant for Safe and Drug Free Schools, and a CDC cooperative agreement for HIV/STD Prevention Education.

Ms. Oliver also served as a Community Organization Specialist for the Monongalia County Drug & Alcohol Council, Community Partnership Project at West Virginia University. In this role, she developed community partnerships for drug and alcohol prevention, and coordinated community activities including parent training, employee assistance programs, community fairs and student events. Earlier in her career, Ms. Oliver served as a health education lecturer and a media specialist at the West Virginia University School of Physical Education and a media specialist and substitute teacher for the Monongalia County Schools in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Ms. Oliver earned her B.A. in Journalism and Educational Media at Marshall University, and her M.A. in Guidance and Counseling at West Virginia University.

Peter R. Moore, CCF Project Director

Peter Moore is IYD's Project Director for the Compassion Capital Fund, where he provides technical assistance to faith-based and community organizations (FBO/CBOs) seeking to participate in the federal grants process. This responsibility involves giving instruction and individual guidance on understanding the federal grant process, applying for federal grants, budgeting for federal grants, and maintaining proper church-state relations. Mr. Moore also assists in making and managing the sub-grants awarded by IYD under its CCF grant to FBO/CBOs.

Mr. Moore's previous job was with Georgia's Office of Education Accountability, where he worked on integrating the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act and Georgia's own educational accountability legislation. Prior to that, he was employed for six years by the Georgia Department of Education, where he was Program Manager responsible for programs under the federal Improving America's Schools Act. During the 1980s, Mr. Moore worked in the U.S. Senate on what is now the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Mr. Moore earned the degrees of B.Sc. (summa cum laude) and M.A. in economics from the University of Maryland and is a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the U.S. Army Reserve.

Lola D. Montgomery, Grants Research Specialist, CCF

Ms. Montgomery is IYD's grant research specialist. In this role, she identifies Federal, State, and private sector funding opportunities for faith-based and community organizations and provides advice on the “how to's” of grant research and matching opportunities.

A seasoned research and communications professional, Ms. Montgomery has more than 15 years of experience. Prior to joining IYD, Ms. Montgomery served as deputy director for Telecommunications for the Deaf, a national non-profit based in Silver Spring , MD. She served as marketing director for T.J. Publishers and was principal on a Department of Justice program educating emergency response personnel about how to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Earlier in her career, Ms. Montgomery's marketing and design clients included national banking and automotive chains, and she conducted research for the University of Georgia 's School of Pharmacology on the effects of dietary fat levels on mammalian susceptibility to carcinogens. Ms. Montgomery was an advisor to the National Information Infrastructure Task Force on Disabilities and a consultant to the Federal Communications Commission on disability access issues.

She graduated from the University of Georgia magna cum laude earning an AB with a double major in Mass Communications and Marketing. She also holds an Associates Degree in Biosciences and Research Technology.

Betty Barrett, Events Coordinator

As IYD’s Events Coordinator, Ms. Barrett coordinates all aspects of planning, registration, and on-site logistics and follow-up for conferences and workshops, and other meetings. Ms. Barrett has served in this capacity for the IYD CCF project since 2003. She was previously grant and distribution manager, conference coordinator, and meeting planner for the Prince Group, Ms. Barrett also worked with the Family Research Council and in the White House Office of Policy Development, where she helped prepare presidential policy briefings and managed travel and meeting schedules.

Renee Bergen, CCF Grants Specialist

As a CCF Grants Specialist, Ms. Bergen is responsible for the technical assistance provided for the CCF project and uses her expertise gained through a track record of successful grant writing as well as grant, program, and organizational management. She has spent over eleven years working for non-profit organizations in the areas of program management, administration, and conference and meeting planning. Previously, Ms. Bergen was an Education Specialist for The International Center for the Integration of Health and Spirituality in Rockville, MD, and then a Program Manager for The George Washington University in Washington, DC, where she monitored private grants to medical schools for programs on spirituality and health. Most recently, she spent three years working for the federal government at the National Institutes of Health. Ms. Bergen has a Bachelor of Science degree in political science and business administration from Gordon College in Wenham, MA.

Copyright 2004
The Institute for Youth Development
P.O. Box 16560, Washington DC, 20041 703-433-1640