In Focus - March 2008
In Focus this month is Dame Lorna May Boreland-Kelly, a Commissioner at the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) and the Chair of the Board of Governors at Lambeth College in London.
Lorna was born in Jamaica in August 1952 and attended the now London Metropolitan University where she obtained a Certificate of Qualification in Social Work in 1991.
Lorna has been a presiding lay magistrate at the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court since 1991 and the Lambeth College’s Chair of Governors since 1992. She is a former member of the Inner London Education Authority – Chairing its Equal Opportunities Committee.
Since March 2000 she has been employed by the London Borough of Croydon and her current professional role is as Mayday and Permanence Manager in the Department of Children, Young People and Learners at the Mayday NHS Trust, Croydon.
She was appointed to the JAC in January 2006 as a lay justice member. The JAC, which was officially launched on 3 April 2006, took over the job of appointing judges in England and Wales, which was formerly the role of the Lord Chancellor. The creation of an independent judicial appointment system was one of the major changes brought about by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, which also reformed the office of the Lord Chancellor and established the Lord Chief Justice as head of the judiciary of England and Wales. Lorna is one of the 15 JAC Commissioners, including the Chairman. It includes representatives from across the judiciary and the legal profession and lay people who are all highly distinguished in their fields on their individual merit, not as a delegate or representative of a particular profession.
In October 2004 Lorna was presented with an Award for Excellence by the European Federation of Black Women Business Owners (EFBWBO) for her lifetime’s work in the spheres of education and child protection. Earlier the same year she was a guest at a special reception, held at Number 10 and hosted by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair, to recognise the achievements and hard work of people from the learning and skill sector, particularly those who work with young people.
Lorna’s contribution to education was acknowledged in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 1998 when she became a Dame of the British Empire (DBE). Lorna is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Below is our interview with Lorna:
BLD: What was the best career advice you were given?
L B-K: When I was younger and politically active, a manager advised me to make sure I was professionally trained in case I ever got tired of politics. Well, I never got tired of politics but I did get trained and that has allowed me to progress up the career ladder in my profession.
BLD: What was the worst career advice you were given?
L B-K: Go for a career that will make you the most money. Some money is necessary (and a lot of money would have been nice!) but I am sure that my life would not have been half so interesting/fulfilling/useful if, instead of working in the public sector, I had followed my friends into the commercial sector.
BLD: What was the best career advice you will give to others?
L B-K: Opportunities are most likely to happen to the person sitting working hard at their desk!
BLD: If you were to choose another job/role, other than what you are doing now, what would it be and why?
L B-K: A farmer, because I had an idyllic childhood on a farm in Jamaica, and I have a romantic idea to return to those days!
BLD: The person you most admire (dead or alive) and why?
L B-K: My grandfather, because of his wisdom and his willingness to help anyone who asked for it.
BLD: Please tell us your views about what practical steps the legal profession and users of legal services can take to ensure that organisations pay more than lip service to diversity?
L B-K: First talk about it! Get the debate going, find out about the issues then determine how your organisation can best tackle these issues in a way appropriate to you.
BLD: The most famous/interesting/challenging diversity issues you have had to tackle in your professional role to date.
L B-K: The challenge of widening the pool of applicants to the judiciary to develop a more diverse population.
BLD: What are the greatest issues/challenges on diversity that needs to be tackled now?
L B-K: Related to what I just said, how we can next work with the legal profession to open up opportunities for women, disabled and BME employees to make applications to the judiciary without damaging their career prospects. The legal profession needs to open up itself more to ensure that such applicants are there in the first place to progress!
BLD: What do you enjoy about being a JAC Commissioner?
L B-K: I enjoy being part of a diverse group of people from different walks of life who have one purpose in mind – to make judicial appointments using the new processes. We want to ensure the quality of applicants is of the highest calibre and we are charged with widening the range of applicants. We are 100 per cent signed up to this as a group irrespective of our backgrounds.
BLD: What do you bring to the JAC?
L B-K: I am a magistrate. I am not a judicial member of the JAC but a lay person who happens to sit as a magistrate. I bring the experience of a black woman sitting in an inner city court which has, I believe, one of the most diverse benches. I am committed to education and training, which is where we need to start widening the range. We need to find different ways of reaching and convincing black and minority ethnic solicitors and barristers, along with women and those with a disability, that there are no in-built discriminatory processes at work in the JAC discouraging them from putting themselves forward.
BLD: What do you do as a JAC Commissioner?
L B-K: I ensure that within the three-to-four days a month I am engaged with the JAC’s business. I lend my voice strongly to those of my colleagues in ensuring all panels and committees are mainstreaming diversity and making sure that diversity issues are at the top of the agenda. We make sure that appointments are made on merit but we are clear that diversity and merit sit side by side, and that there is no conflict between the two.
BLD: What top tips can you give for those applying for judicial posts?
L B-K: I would say to people, try and try again if you are unsuccessful the first time. My life experience enables me to say with conviction that having put yourself forward, if you are not successful at the first attempt then try again and again and learn from each attempt. Do not treat it as a failure but as an opportunity! I am qualified to say this, as I do this. Before you complete your application, think about the qualities required and what you need to write to show you are ready for judicial office. You need to sell yourself – research, prepare and be ready to complete the application form and the interview. That is not to say women and BMEs don’t already do this because we are very good at it in everyday life but we need to ensure that in our busy lives and activities we are involved in, we take time for ourselves.
Competency examples don’t necessarily have to come from your professional life. If you have strong examples from other aspects of your experience then consider using them. For example, if you have done or are planning to do some work for charities, neighbourhood groups, or the reserve forces, for example, then consider using that. The important point is that the example you use highlights your particular competency strength.
BLD: What are you most passionate/happiest about?
L B-K: Training, development and career progression for young people.
BLD: What are your dislikes/makes you angry?
L B-K: Negative energy.
BLD: If you could rule the world for a day what would you change/do?
L B-K: As the mother of two young men (as well as four others!), make the world a safer place for our young people.