Smallwood spent five years with the National Labor Relations Board as a field examiner. He served with the U.S. Army in Japan. He has worked for six federal agencies, including the Civil Service Commission, SBA, Dept. of Labor and EPA as an investigator and director monitoring fair employment practices. For the past twelve years he has been an investigator and human resources consultant in 24 states. He is a graduate of Newark College of Arts & Science of Rutgers University and he attended George Washington University and Brookings Institution.