Janet George's work, community involvement, and art have all centered around individual empowerment, youth success, and the importance of community.​

​

Career: Janet George is currently serving as Director of the Family and Children's Program at Amethyst (Alvis, Inc.).

In her role, Janet leads a team that supports the children of mothers in recovery, helping families heal, grow and thrive.

​

Prior to Amethyst, she was the Partner Engagement Manager for United Way of Central Ohio’s early childhood initiative, Columbus & Franklin County Kids. In this role, she co-led a staff of 18 to ensure Franklin County preschoolers are developmentally on-track and enter Kindergarten prepared and ready to learn. 

​

Janet believes in the power of education and relationships to change lives. She served almost two decades as an instructor and trainer with youth-serving volunteers in National Service/AmeriCorps, in addition working with schools and social service agencies to support youth success in and out of school.

 

Prior to her United Way tenure, Janet served on the National Program Design and Evaluation Team for City Year Inc.  Janet has also worked at the City Year Columbus site as Service and Training Director. Before joining the City Year staff, Janet trained AmeriCorps members at The Ohio State University in the AmeriCorps for Literacy and Math and the America Reads initiatives as the instructor for Introduction to Urban Education.

 

Community Involvement: Janet’s community involvement includes chairing the steering committee for the RISE SISTER RISE Research Project, which seeks to understand the trauma and resiliency experiences of black girls in Ohio. Janet was a community representative on Columbus City Schools' Curriculum Quality Control Committee and for more than a decade has served on Franklin County Children Services’ Malaika Mentoring Program Advisory Committee.

 

Janet is a certified Trauma Responsive Care Trainer and Community Health Worker. She is also a trainer for the Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets for Youth, a research-based positive youth development model, as well as the early childhood developmental screening tools, Ages & Stages3.

​​​

Art & Community: Janet is well-known among artists in Central Ohio, not only for her art, but for her curating experience. For her, art is a means of connecting with individuals and uplifting communities. These four examples below illustrate how her art has a profound impact on people’s lives.

​​​​

Janet is a trained Soul Collage® facilitator. SoulCollage® is an expressive arts practice done individually or in community. Using collage, the method develops "creativity and intuition, encourages self-discovery, and provides personal guidance." (SoulCollage.com) 

​

georgienotes are cards created in community with others that express uplifting words and affirmations. These cards are usually shared with a population that is considered vulnerable to depression, burnout, and hopelessness. In the past, georgienotes have been given to incarcerated women and city school teachers.

 

On Her Shoulders was an art exhibition curated by Janet, centered on a key artwork that embodied the exhibit’s purpose. As a concept, On Her Shoulders sought to acknowledge and honor the women on whose shoulders we all stand. Janet's piece was a collection of images of 366 women, crowdsourced from women who wanted to feature another woman who has parented, mentored, and/or inspired them.

 

Janet brings stories to life as Interplanet Janet, reading to young children and sparking a love of literacy through imaginative journeys far and wide.

​​