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 Born in Columbia in
1976, Cameron Runyan
spent his childhood in the
community. His
early years were
spent in the Covenant Road
area of Two Notch
Road.
His family later
moved to Pine Belt
Road, and then to
Forest Acres near Trenholm Plaza.
In 1987, Cameron and
his family moved to
Hampton County where
he spent most of his
teenage years.
In the Lowcountry,
Cameron passed many days in the hot,
dusty fields of
Hampton County working side
by side with the
people that he says,
"Make the world go
'round." The
formative time he
spent there helped
shape Cameron's
belief that we are
all members of a
larger, diverse community.
As an All-Conference
football player on
two state
championship teams,
Cameron also learned
the value of working
together to achieve
a common goal.
In 1999 Cameron
graduated from
Furman University
with a Bachelor's
Degree in Political
Science. During
college Cameron
continued to develop
his belief that we
are all part of a
larger community. It was
from this philosophy
that Cameron adopted
his life motto, "To
whom much is given,
much is also
required."
Cameron realizes
that he has been
given much in life
and he believes that
everyone in
Columbia,
individuals and
businesses, has a
moral obligation to
contribute to the
collective good of
our community.
In 2000, Cameron
began his
professional career. While
a full-time
graduate student
working towards his
Masters in
Environmental
Management at USC,
Cameron served with
former South
Carolina Governor
Jim Hodges'
re-election
campaign. He later
helped former state
Superintendent of
Education Inez Tenenbaum with her
re-election and then
state Senator Phil
Leventis in his run
for Lieutenant
Governor.
Cameron says that
the time he spent
with those
candidates was
fulfilling because
of the values he was
fighting for -
honesty, integrity,
accountability,
fairness,
cooperation,
and community.
After the 2002
election season,
Cameron entered the
environmental arena
where he spent two
years fighting for
South Carolinians
who had suffered
land contamination
at the hands of the
giant multi-national
corporation
ExxonMobil. His
efforts ultimately
contributed to the
return of millions
of dollars to the
people of South
Carolina.
 Today, Cameron
enjoys the most
rewarding work he
has ever known as he
fights for the interests of abused
and neglected
children throughout
our community. In
his capacity as the
Director of
Development and
Public Information
for
Richland County CASA
Inc.,
Cameron is
responsible for
recruiting members
of our community to
become volunteer
advocates for our
county's most needy
children. Cameron
knows that without
the work he performs
on behalf of the
children, many of
the more than 1,000
kids served each
year by CASA would
represent the
failures of our
community instead of
its successes.
Cameron's work with CASA's
children extends
beyond his
involvement as an
employee - he also serves
as a volunteer
advocate for
numerous abused
children himself.
Cameron and his wife
Jennifer currently
reside in the
Elmwood Park
Neighborhood where
he has lived since
2002.
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