Orlalee Grace was born out of a promise.......

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My interest in human rights stems from my lived experience.

Growing up as a child in the Niger Delta, I was surrounded by the devastating impact of oil pollution on the livelihood and health of people in my local community, resulting from crude oil production and refinery.

I was determined to make a difference in some way.

 However, I was a child and felt powerless. What could I possibly do to change the situation around me?

As a digression, I decided to focus on my studies and made a promise to myself that one day, if I studied hard, maybe I would be able to make a tangible impact.

I wanted to empower my farming community and so studied Agricultural Economics, graduating with First Class Honours, the first from the Faculty since the inception of the University.

I was awarded a scholarship by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) to study Resources Management at Masters level. My thesis at the University of Edinburgh was focused on Sustainable Development. Finally, I got my chance to return to the Niger Delta and make a tangible difference in my community!

My research work focused on Economic Empowerment and Public Participation as routes to sustainable development in the Niger Delta,  focusing on the operations of Shell and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as case studies.

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Graduating with a Merit equivalent, I received a PhD offer from the University of Edinburgh to study Sustainability. Unfortunately, I was unable to pursue my PhD due to a lack of funding. Prior to graduation, I received a job offer from Procter and Gamble and began my career as a Human Resources Manager,  focusing on recruitment, training and retention of diverse talents from the diaspora and across Africa. I was privileged to hire and train some outstanding talents from the Niger Delta, some of whom have gone on to become excellent leaders in global businesses. 

Realising the power of a great education, I made a promise to myself to give the same gift to my children.

Education is the best investment a child can have.

Orlalee Grace was born out of that promise.

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Driven by a passion to help others and witnessing the devastation around me during the pandemic, especially domestic violence going through the roof during lockdown, I decided to do something about it.

Law has the potent power to change the world. I went back to university to study law while homeschooling my two lovely boys. My thesis was focused on determining to what extent changes to the provision of civil legal aid have delivered against the objectives of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), with respect to access to justice at pace for female domestic abuse victims and their children.

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I was awarded a Distinction for my research work which made novel recommendations including early interventions in the process of obtaining legal advice and representation, such as legal one-stop shops targeting 'clustering' of legal issues, as opposed to piece-meal solutions tailored to fit LASPO's reduced scope of eligibility; funding support for litigants to access legal advice and representation at critical litigation stages including child arrangement order and financial remedy final hearings; a revamped Exceptional Case Funding (ECF) scheme, in particular covering initial application costs for legal aid lawyers and the use of advanced online technology to alleviate court backlogs and delays exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UK government has since implemented some of these recommendations, deploying millions of pounds to early intervention measures.

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As a mother raising two lovely boys, I always shed tears as I read about the devastation of a greater pandemic:

the blood of young children being shed on our streets on a regular basis.

All my life, my faith in God has been my anchor. As I pray to my Heavenly Father for a solution to the problem, I made a promise to myself to do something about this pandemic too (other than cry and pray)

Orlalee Grace was born out of that promise....

 

No child is born with a knife in their hands.

There are root causes for the knife-crime pandemic on our streets.

With the privilege of a robust understanding of young people and an in-depth knowledge of the system including social services, children services, CAFCASS, the police, law courts, churches, schools and disadvantaged communities,

 I believe I can make a valuable contribution to the solution.

One family at a time, one child at a time.​

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From a Survivor to a Soldier

From the shores of the Niger Delta to the UK

From earning £75,000 to getting £850 on benefits

From Universal Credit to the House of Lords 

From a litigant-in-person at 30+ proceedings

To a McKenzie Friend for other LIPs

From a single-parent, domestic-abuse household to one of the best public schools in the world

The power of a promise!​​

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When life gives you a lemon, be sure to make an astonishingly good lemonade out of it!

I made a promise to my lovely boys that I will work hard to provide them with the best opportunities in life. 

As I work on delivering that promise daily, I reckon - why not do it with a community?

It takes a village to raise a child.

Orlalee Grace was born out of that promise..........

............and the relentless determination of a mother to fulfil it for her lovely boys.​​