In 2014 Ms Swery stepped up to lead the struggling Leabank division.
"Under Elinor's leadership it saw a significant improvement in its operation," said her nominator.
The division's roll increased from 10 members to 40 and it now offers a safe place for youth to learn, meet new friends and be surrounded by positive role models, said her nominator.
Ms Swery is motivated by witnessing the effect the St John youth programme can have.
"At the beginning of the year we had about 10 or so kids who went through the programme [who] have started their paramedical studies at university.
"That was awesome because I had seen their progress since they were 8 to 10 years old.
"Some of them didn't come from backgrounds where they were expected to go to university but seeing them and the impact the programme has had on them is amazing.
"They worked hard through school, they had the motivation and they made it," she said.
A major focus for Ms Swery is trying to ensure youth are offered prominent roles within the organisation, rather than having to wait until they are 30.
"The biggest challenge is that there aren't enough leaders and volunteers in St John," she said.
"We need more leaders to help run a quality programme."
Next year she will be in charge of organising a national four-day event involving all youth members around the country.
"We've got a lot of kids that join because they are interested in the medical profession and want to get a taste for it, which I think is fantastic - it gives them all this training before they go into formal training but we've also got a lot of kids that join because it's a really quality programme."
The Pride of New Zealand Awards are proudly brought to you by The New Zealand Herald, The Hits and TSB Bank. Nominations for the 2015 awards have now closed.
To see more stories of our wonderful nominees click here.
For more information on the awards go to the official website.
