A Brief History

She attended Shortwood Teachers College, Jamaica, where she majored in Spanish and Linguistics with a minor in Literature. There, she received the prestigious and coveted Marjorie Myers Centennial Scholarship. In that year, too, she received the tuition-based Teacher’s Scholarship from the Ministry of Education.

Her passion for teaching and learning fueled her desire to attain her Bachelors Degree at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. Judith holds a Masters Degree in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) from Cambridge College and in 2007 she completed a second Masters degree in School Leadership and District Administration from the College of St. Rose in Albany, NYS.

She served as a fearless UFT Chapter Leader in two schools for over a decade where she represented and defended her members with the same alacrity with which she approaches life. This passion for advocacy and “speaking up for those who have no voice,” made her the natural candidate for the widely publicized and politicized position of President of the Association of International Educators. (AIE) In this role she, in collaboration with The Black Institute, staged demonstrations at City Hall and in Albany, gave radio and television interviews locally and internationally and met with various senators and Congressmen in defense of the beleaguered teachers of the Diaspora. Judith well knew that the position would make her vulnerable to repercussions and/or dismissal but she accepted the challenge anyway. She said, “The best way to hide is in plain sight.”

Backed By the Black Institute, the AIE, became a force not to be ignored. Many major and minor concessions were won from the Department of Education. She began to realize the role that Advocacy played as an agent of transformation in communities, countries and the world. Most importantly though, was how it transformed and reconnected Judith to the better, more altruistic parts of herself when she was speaking up for the voiceless. When Bertha Lewis CEO/Founder of The Black Institute invited her to sit on the Board, she was elated. Judith accepted, recognizing it as part of the universe’s design for her life.

George Washington University became aware of the work that Judith and the Black Institute were doing and when The McArthur Foundation gave the university a grant to assess the “Ethical Recruitment of Foreign Born Teachers”, Bertha Lewis chose Judith to be a panelist to help draft and co-author the constitution which would ensure that never again would teachers have to endure the untenable conditions they faced as international recruits.

One of her famous quotes that reverberated around the globe was, “You came to our countries and chose the brightest and the best, yet you persist in treating us as little more than indentured servants! This is a most egregious situation and we seek redress on the Federal, State and City levels! If our service is no longer required, there must be a structured disengagement, not to exclude one year’s notice and severance pay!”

As Head of the Spanish Department at the Marie Curie School for Medicine, Nursing and the Health Professions, she was responsible for creating the Spanish curriculum and chaired the School Leadership Team meetings. Not only was she a dynamic teacher who consistently reaped extraordinary success at the Regents and Advanced Placement levels; she introduced extra-curricular activities for the students because she believes implicitly that “social learning is the underpinning of academic success” and many of the students, 95% girls, needed social skills and esteem- boosting experiences. She organized an 8-day tour of Madrid and Barcelona, Spain to expand their horizons. Judith viewed the trip as a major character-building, discipline-reinforcing opportunity for her charges. It proved life altering for her students and there were dramatic shifts in achievement, attitude and aspiration as she had intended. The previous month, on March 12, 2011, with the aid of the Black Institute, she hosted a fundraiser at The Campanile Restaurant to help raise funds to pay for the excursion. It was wildly successful!

Judith admits to being influenced greatly by 3 women in her life, the first was her mother who instilled in her a passion for reading and also imbued her with her sense of industry and philanthropy. She moves at a fast pace and hates inactivity. Another strong female principle in her life was her high school Spanish teacher, Sister Mary Catherine: a Franciscan nun. She was dynamic and exciting and Judith in turn, was energized and excited to learn all she taught. She ascribes her success as a teacher to the strategies learned from her. Equally impactful was her mentor Bertha Lewis who taught her community organizing. She was the architect of the Broken Promises Campaign, which forced the DOE to the table to negotiate with the Black Institute and the Association of International Educators (AIE) for which Judith was President.

In Judith’s own words “Inactivity presages boredom and I absolutely refuse to be bored!” Judith never passes up an opportunity to grow and learn and she is very results oriented. She loves a challenge and is at her best in a crisis. A lifelong learner and educator, she finds inspiration and validation in the words of Marianne Williamson; “… you are a child of God you were meant to shine. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure about you. When you let your light shine, you unconsciously give others permission to do the same.” Judith strongly feels that these words succinctly sum up the journey her life has been on her road to self-actualization.

Judith Speaks

Speak. Teach. Coach. Impact! (STCI), is a Motivational Speaking and Life Coaching company committed to empowering our clients to surrender the old repetitive, limiting paradigms and engage in the attitudes and behaviors which will transform their current thinking. This will unlock the untapped abilities that each person possess. Creating awareness will aid in major transformational shifts in the domain or domains of their lives where they are experiencing longing or discontent.

Mission

At STCI, our mission is to create growth opportunities for both our clients and consultants. We seek to help them build capacity from within to ensure that they continue to be successful beyond their interactions with us.
Our vision is to become a leader in providing transformation through motivational speaking, life coaching, vision workshops and Education Consultation services within the U.S., Canada, Jamaica, the U.K, and Africa. As a result, the other countries and communities around the globe will witness the impact of our clients’ transformation and they, too, will want to experience results in the four domains of their lives.

Coaching Services

We pride ourselves on our ethical practices. We conduct ourselves with integrity in all our interactions. By finding out what “gives them more life,” our clients will be guided, through evocative coaching, on a course of action that will attract, create and manifest greater abundance for themselves

Speaker Sheet

Learn more about my speaking services and how you can benefit from an experienced speaker and life coach at your next event. Download my speaker sheet at the following link: Judith's Speaker Sheet or view online here