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Honorable Irma Poole Asberry, judge of the Superior Court of California County of Riverside, delivered the 2013 Annual Athena Lecture on March 6 at Riverside City College.
Athena international is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empower and inspire women.
Faculty, students and the community attended the lecture which took place in the Digital Library Auditorium.
The lecture, titled “How to Identify your Winning Talents and Put Them to Use for a Life of Excellence,” centered on the importance of using talents for the community.
“Get involved in an organization or cause that interests you,” Asberry said.
During the lecture, Asberry emphasized the importance of belonging to organizations that provide a public service, or simply volunteering for a particular cause.
Asberry is the first African American female appointed to judge of the Supreme Court of California. She was appointed in April 2007.
She said she was joyous and it made her heart happy because of the accomplishment she made by being the first African America female appointed to judge of the Supreme Court of California.
“When I was in elementary school I was sure I wanted to be a judge,” she said. “In high school I had the opportunity to meet judge Morris, a dear inspiration who is now deceased.”
Asberry works within the Riverside County’s Family Law Department. She said she catches herself getting emotional involved with some of the cases she deals with.
“It is sad to see cases where people lose their homes or their children, and families being split because someone is sentenced to jail,” she said.
Juliana Zapata and Zamora Finister contributed to this report.