Kamaljit Lehal BOARD DIRECTOR | 1996 to present
I was born in London England, my parents were born in Nairobi Kenya, my grandparents in Punjab India and my four children are first generation Canadians. My parents moved to Canada in 1975 when I was ten years old, it was a tough transition to leave my friends behind and go from being the oldest in the class to the youngest. Somewhere along the way I lost my British accent, however, I am told it resurfaces on occasion.
I always knew from a young age that I wanted to be a lawyer, in fact I was primed for it being the only girl in the family and having two brothers, I felt like I had to make sure my voice was heard. My parents would often remark when I stood my ground that I should be a lawyer. So I
HARPAL & KAMALJIT LEHAL Italy
went to UBC law school to pursue law and graduated in 1989, and was called to the bar in 1990, this year marks 31 years as a lawyer. Most of my career as a lawyer has been running my own firm and as a sole practitioner, this allowed me flexibility to raise my children and be there for them. However, I was also fortunate and continue to be fortunate to have the support of my husband who has stepped up to the plate in many ways to help raise our children and support my career and community involvement. As a family we have travelled extensively, which we love doing, from local trips within Canada to going abroad to Asia, Nairobi and various countries in Europe - we have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to create some amazing memories. However, I have been banned by my children from taking selfies on our travels as I am not very good at doing them, as can be seen from the spotlight photo. I have been on Options’ Board as since 1996, but my involvement with Options goes back well beyond that to when I was around 18 years old when I worked for Options as a Child Care Worker as a summer job. I also volunteered at one of the transition homes. There was no hesitation when I was asked to join the Board to accept the position, in fact it was a real privilege. I can truly say it has been an amazing journey, the past 24 years on the Board, and an honour to be around passionate and committed Board members that truly have the heart of the community at the forefront. It has been equally a privilege to be surrounded by strong leadership in the CEO, E-Team, and inspiring to see the commitment of staff and volunteers. I am beyond honored to be Chair of this amazing organization and seeing how it has grown to meet the needs of the communities it serves.
OPTIONS COMMUNITY SERVICES SOCIETY
JUNE 2021
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