THE young and talented Asheka Robinson is a legal officer at the island’s leading energy company, JPS, and the recent graduate of the Norman Manley Law School and The University of the West Indies has found it a great and varied learning experience so far.

But in addition to her 9-to-5 Robinson is big on volunteerism. Her passion for helping others started when she began community service in lower school at Ardenne High. This love for volunteerism, coupled with her belief in creating positive enabling spaces for women, has led to her regular outreach activities.

“It is important to see someone who looks like you at the other end of success, leading the way and guiding other women along,” she said with passion, thus giving some insight into her recent participation in the Miss Jamaica World pageant in which she placed in the top five.

While in law school Robinson was an executive member of Women in Action, a group for women in the legal space actively pursuing national conversations about matters that uniquely impact women. The work of the group includes parliamentary visits, sessions with students, facilitating public discussions with other legal minds, and influencing discourse about laws that disproportionately impact women.

Her involvement in volunteerism has also included other areas of focus. She has worked with Called to Lead Jamaica, an organisation founded by Benjamin Fraser that caters to at-risk youth in schools. She has also assisted students who were on academic and behavioural probation, helping them to improve their performance and addressing the causes of the poor outcomes they experienced.

The young lawyer has also volunteered her time with the Jamaica Association for the Deaf and intends to do more to help the deaf and hearing-impaired community. She is of the opinion that sign language should be a part of the standard curriculum in schools as we seek to encourage understanding and empowerment of all peoples.

Robinson believes that more progress is possible if our discussions around gender equity employ more empathy — realising that your personal experience does not invalidate someone else’s.