Lisa Nakamura is a Senior Policy Analyst with the British Columbia Ministry of Justice, based in the innovative Dispute Resolution Office. Over the past 12 months, Lisa has been one of the most frequent users and enthusiastic supporters of the NSRLP SRL Speakers Bank, regularly asking for suggestions for SRLs to serve on committees and policy groups developing resources for SRLs. Lisa turns the stereotype of a mechanistic, cautious bureaucrat on its head. She is open and candid about the impact on her thinking of the poignant stories of SRLs. Lisa is committed to including the voice of SRLs as stakeholders in the justice system, regarding their participation as essential to both the integrity and the practicalities of justice system reform.
Lisa has been nominated to the Access to Justice All-Stars Team by SRL Jennifer Muller, who writes, “”Since my first communication with Lisa via email, I was struck by her genuine interest and respect for me as an SRL. Over the course of several months Lisa’s commitment to getting the voices of SRLs heard was made evident to me again and again. She followed up with me after A2J events, curious to hear my point of view and was extremely encouraging of my participation as a justice system stakeholder. Most recently, I was invited to attend and speak at a Justice Summit in British Columbia. My invitation to such an event, and my voice there, would never have occurred without individuals like Lisa who are committed to the inclusivity of all citizens in our collective pursuit of justice system reform.”
Congratulations Lisa, and we hope that you will be an example to others in policymaking roles!
I SOOO wish there was a ‘FORUM’ we Self-Representing Lonely Folk could meet, discuss and glean information!! Could you possibly add a SLR Forum on your website? You clearly have far greater resources than I do on my Blog ‘The Lonely Road to Justice.’
I agree, we appreciate the help anyone is giving, but the greatest source of help is our own stories of horror. I have found they all bear a striking similarity. we run into the same stuff over and over again. given that, if we have somewhere to “meet” and share information, we will be able to address these repeated abuses of our rights. I think at this point, we are looking at a judicial review of the way the courts are handling slr cases. we clearly cannot access justice,. this in itself is an abuse of the system. the “power people: lawyers and judges, are working actually, against us. we have no equal access to the courts, so we have no equal access to justice. I think the time for a judicial review is upon us. what do you all think?
I am with you Evert-Jan Steen, I am so new to social media and a forum would be fan-fabulous!