Ep 104 Goal-Setting to Build a Dream Career

How do you plan for your career? Setting goals is an essential component of the career planning process. For a satisfying, successful career, you need goals.

Join Dr. Geneva and her guest, Judge Leonia Lloyd, well known author, lawyer, and district court judge, as they talk about and inspire others about reaching dreams and achieving goals.

Leonia Lloyd is a public speaker and author whose career as a judge, lawyer, and teacher has spanned decades serving the citizens of Detroit. Having sat on the 36th District Court for more than 20 years, Judge Lloyd has lived a life with many stories to tell which are captured in her new memoir Your Honor, Your Honor: A Journey Through Grief and Restorative Justice.

Her award-winning justice programs for drug and prostitution offenders have been featured on the National Geographic Channel, A&E Network, and in the Detroit Free Press. She presided over the Drug Treatment Court, which aimed to help people escape the vicious cycle of addiction and crime. She also helped implement Project Fresh Start, a program to help women who practiced the act of prostitution to recover from addiction and enjoy healthy, productive lives. Her other programs include the Handgun Intervention Program, which is designed to help rid the streets of illegal hand guns; and, the Misdemeanor Morality Program, which educates participants about inappropriate conduct regarding sexual activity.

Thousands of people have graduated from these “restorative justice” programs to create stable, happier lives. Her creativity in establishing programs for the citizens of Detroit has become a benchmark in justice reform.

Judge Lloyd has been honored with the Champion of Justice Award by the State Bar of Michigan (2009); the Lamplighter of the Year Award (2007); Sojourner Truth Award from the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women's Club (2008); Mark of Excellence Award from Alabama A & M University (2009); Distinguished Service Award from Detroit City Council (2009); Certificate of Recognition from Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano (2009); Certificate of Tribute from Governor Jennifer Granholm (2009); and the Making a Difference For Women Award from the Soroptimist Club of Grosse Pointe (2009). She and her Drug Court Team have received Appreciation Awards from the Michigan Association of Drug Court Professionals for three consecutive years, in addition to the Recognition Award (2006-2007) by the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, as the “Second Best Drug Court in the Nation."

The Drug Court Team also received the coveted and rarely offered, Transformation Award from the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (2009). She was honored in front of the Michigan Senate, the Michigan House of Representatives, and the Michigan Supreme Court by Chief Justice Marilyn Jean Kelley for her innovative work with the Project Fresh Start program. This program helped transform the lives of hundreds of women.

She is listed in Who's Who in Black America, Black Judges in America, and Who's Who in Black Detroit. She is a product of Detroit Public Schools and received her bachelor’s and jurist doctorate degrees from Wayne State University. Before becoming a judge, she was a partner in the law firm “Lloyd and Lloyd,” which she shared with her late twin sister, Leona. They were featured in Ebony, Jet, and People magazines along with the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News.

Both she and her sister would go on to be elected to serve on the 36th District Court and be the country’s first twin judges to sit on the same District Court bench at the same time. They were affectionately dubbed “Twins for Justice.” In 2001, Judge Lloyd endowed the Judges Leona and Leonia Lloyd Twins for Justice Scholarship Fund at Wayne State University Law School in her sister’s honor. The scholarship financially assists students pursuing a law degree. In her spare time, Judge Lloyd enjoys going to concerts, upscale restaurants, and traveling.