Janelle A. Stewart

Janelle Stewart has translated her professional youth development expertise into service to the Lenawee County community. She is a member of the Agriculture Advisory Council for the Vo-Tech Center and the Adrian Public Schools Afterschool Taskforce, a Stubnitz Environmental Educational Center board member and Big Brothers/Big Sisters board member. Currently, Stewart serves on Lenawee County’s Youth Asset Committee, Coalition of Youth Serving Agencies and Human Services Committee. She also served on the Columbia Central School and Brooklyn Elementary School improvement teams. She began her MSU Extension work in 1996 as the Lenawee County 4-H program assistant and became the 4-H youth agent in 1998. She has led many county 4-H programs, including Project BLOOM, a therapeutic horticulture program for persons with disabilities; Celebrando La Familia, a support program for Latino families that incorporates conflict resolution and character education; and the Michigan 4-H Livestock Camp. She also serves on the MSU Extension Youth Development Area of Expertise Team. Before her work in Extension, Stewart served as a Big Brothers/Big Sisters caseworker in Jackson County. Stewart has been recognized for her service by the 1999 Excellence in Extension Team Programming Award for Reading to Reduce Racism, the 2001 National FFA Citation, a 2001 Excellence in Extension Team Programming Award for Celebrando La Familia and the Michigan 4-H Livestock Camp. She also received the Girl Scouts Hidden Heroines Award, the 2002 Michigan Association of Extension 4-H Youth Staff Diversity Award for Project BLOOM and an Extension team award for the Southeast region awards program.