Kiaira Smith

I attribute my success to my dad, who raised me as a single father in the early 1990s when that wasn't common at all. People looked at him like he was crazy, asking what he was doing with three kids by himself, but he made it happen. He was very courageous and took different steps to help create success for me and my brothers. He actually sued the hospital after my mother passed away advocating for herself and nobody took her seriously, which wasn't a common thing, especially for an African-American male to do back then. He strategically moved us from New York to a more suburban area in Maplewood, New Jersey, which opened up opportunities for education. He pushed us in school, kept us organized, and put us in the best Catholic schools that are top-ranked in New Jersey. My brothers went to St. Benedict's and a military academy, and I went to Marylawn of the Oranges. Having a great support system like my grandmother who helped my dad, and people who encouraged us to keep pushing forward and being the best version of ourselves, is why I am a leader. My dad created that foundation. I also believe in always taking a chance on myself. I took a bet on myself when I moved to Atlanta in 2 weeks knowing absolutely nobody, and every opportunity that came my way, I just took a chance. That willingness to step forward, take risks, and believe in myself has shaped who I am today.

The best career advice I received was from my dad, who told me that things aren't the same for women and that I should get my accolades a little bit faster. He said that eventually I'll have a family and we don't know how that's going to work out, so it's good for me to live in my career and be a part of my career early on. That advice pushed me to pursue my master's degree young and invest in my professional development before other life responsibilities came into play. It helped me understand the importance of building a strong foundation early in my career.

The biggest challenge I faced, and one that continues in the field, is starting young and not being taken seriously. When I graduated with my master's degree at around 24 years old, nobody took me seriously at all. I had to make people understand that I'm here to help and create change just like they are. People would say things like 'you're the same age as my daughter,' constantly downplaying my education and my age. They could just tell I was super young and that affected how they viewed my capabilities. Even though I had the education and the skills, being young in a leadership role meant people weren't listening or respecting my expertise. That's been the biggest challenge, honestly, having to prove myself despite my qualifications simply because of my age. Right now in the field, we're also in a phase where the government doesn't understand who community champions are and what they do. Our goal with projects like Champion of Change is to uplift these champions and highlight their work so people can know that just because something is written in a grant doesn't mean it's not needed. We need to bridge that gap between government and community to create more effective change.

The values most important to me are service, vision, and accountability. I define leadership as exactly those three things: being willing to step forward and create direction, making space for others to grow and thrive, and having the ability to move people forward with ideas to help shape communities and create positive change. I'm all about staying organized because I cannot start my day without a to-do list. If there's not a to-do list, I don't know how that day's going to go. I value making things personable because sometimes in business meetings, people forget that we're all human. I believe in connecting families to resources, building long-lasting friendships, and creating meaningful and impactful communication. I'm a champion of trying new things and taking chances on myself. Most importantly, I value ensuring that communities don't feel left out and that their voices are heard. That's the entire purpose of my consulting business dedicated to my mother, making sure people have access and support. I believe that not one person can do everything by themselves, but when you have a team or a community, more effective change gets made. Public health is called public health because you get to help multiple people at once and create change within communities and systems together.