Daishawn Smith, MS, ABA, RBT

Daishawn Smith is a master level Behaviorist who is a proud Boilermaker,  graduating from Purdue University. In addition to that, he is a certified Registered Behavior Technician and Clinical Assistant. He spent his undergrad in Muncie, IN where he attended Ball State University and graduated with a bachelor's in Social Work. Daishawn comes to New Leaf with a vast amount of experience in behavioral management and working with clients from all walks of life. This includes having worked with adolescent and adult clients for nearly a decade.

His overall passion for helping those in need stems from a history of being in foster care himself. During almost a ten year span, he noticed that there was a lack of consistent workers in the lives of his brothers and himself. Seeing this gap in services as a youth and how others treated him, prompted him to create the first chapter of S.A.V.E (Students Against Violence Everywhere) at Ben Davis University High School and that framework is the foundation of the schools current anti-bullying club. However, this was not enough and he soon went on to volunteer for programs such as Youth Achievers, Summer Scholars and more. Eventually he would become an extended stay camp counselor for the YMCA of Indiana where he was also recognized as being Counselor of the Year and nominated multiple times.

Daishawn enjoys assisting others in gaining meaningfulness in the lives they live and often tells his unique story through poetry or spoken word. He also enjoys being active doing activities such as hiking and rock climbing. Daishawn has been an avid indoor rock climber since 2015 and completed a bucket list goal of hiking Rocky Mountain. He believes that every person deserves a hero because in the end sometimes it is one grain of sand that can change the balance of a seemingly unfavorable situation for the better.