Dr. Judith Ned, SMYSP Executive Director
“Your message burns in my heart … I cannot keep silent” – Jeremiah 29
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As Executive Director of the Stanford Medical Youth Science Program, Judith Ned is a whirlwind of energy and enthusiasm. When she isn’t counseling SMYSP students, she writes grants, coaches staff members on personal and professional development, advises students on the college admissions process and evaluates data on the long-term success of the program. She takes her work very personally, and she says she is devoted to SMYSP because her heart is into finding resources for our students. In the process, Ned says she has learned important lessons of her own.
“I have learned about the resiliency of young people,” she says. “I didn’t understand it until now. Our kids have so much going on. Many of them are working to support their families … you have students from impoverished families, families who have lost a parent, or they’ve come from foster homes, and their resiliency is astounding.”
Dr. Ned has a long history of meaningful work. After completing her undergraduate degree in 1990 in Animal Sciences at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, she enrolled in AmeriCorp for two years. There she got first-hand experience in health education, project and leadership development and conflict mediation.
She used these skills when she came to San Jose, California, in 1997 to work as a Program Manager and Director for Public Allies-Silicon Valley. In this capacity, Dr. Ned led more than 100 young adults through programs on communication skills, leadership and community development. She also developed new programs for the organization including a professional speakers’ bureau and mentorship program.
All of her experience helped her find success when she joined SMYSP in 2001. In addition to her professional successes, Dr. Ned completed her masters in Counselor Education from San Jose State University in San Jose, California in 2001, her Masters in Educational Leadership in May, 2006 and her Doctorate in Education at Mills College in Oakland, California in June 2008.
“You take what you’ve learned and you use it,” she says. It is a message she and the rest of the SMYSP staff continually share with their students. “I am a continuous learner through them,” she says.