JAMAICAN-AMERICAN Alison Smith, who has smashed a near century-old tradition in Florida’s Broward Country Bar Association (BCBA) by becoming the first black woman to be elected president since its founding in 1925, is preparing to take the helm this June 18.

Smith, an attorney and partner at leading law firm Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Berman, attended the annual gathering of presidents-elect from the various voluntary bar associations spanning the United States, staged by the Bar Leaders Institute of the American Bar Association in Chicago, Illinois, from March 16-18, 2022.

“It is sort of a rite of passage for incoming bar presidents throughout the country,” said Smith whose history-making election was reported by the Jamaica Observer last year May.

“The incoming bar leaders from all over the country converge in Chicago in order to get training/information about issues to expect during their term and how to be an effective leader. It is also an opportunity to exchange ideas about the running of our organisations. We get to exchange notes about each other and about what works and what does not.”

After her election last year, Smith told the Observer she was “beyond excited and consider it to be a privilege and an honour to represent the BCBA. As the first woman of colour to be president in our organisation’s history, I take this position with the utmost seriousness and am humbled to lead BCBA”, said the affable Smith, a former member of talent group ASHE in Kingston who came home to Jamaica four times a year to soak up the culture and enjoy her favourite ackee and saltfish dish, before the novel cornavirus pandemic.

Smith said upon her arrival at Chicago’s O’hare International Airport, she was bouyed to see “our illustrious Jamaican flag flying high and proud… It was one of the first things I pleasantly saw as I came off the plane!”