BARONESS DOREEN LAWRENCE OF CLARENDON
ANTI-RACISM CAMPAIGNER
Doreen grew up with her grandmother in the Clarendon parish of Jamaica. At age nine Doreen travelled to England, joining her mother in Brockley, South London.
Later in life Doreen decided to go to university and obtained a BA Hons in Humanities. While studying for her undergraduate degree, Doreen’s son Stephen was tragically murdered, an incident that changed the course of Doreen’s life and led her to becoming an important figure in the British Civil Rights movement. Doreen’s role in campaigning for justice contributed to the publication of the Macpherson Report, an inquiry that prompted reforms of the UK police service. Doreen has previously been selected to sit on panels within the Home Office questioning the ‘Stop and Search’ protocol and has sat on the board of Liberty, the human rights charity. In 1998 the Lawrence family established the Stephen Lawrence
Charitable Trust. During her time as Director, Doreen established an official Stephen Lawrence Day and through various outreach programmes has supported over one thousandyoung people in reaching their true potential.
In 2003 Doreen was awarded an OBE for her advocacy and in 2013 she was invited to become a Life Peer in the House of Lords where she strives to be the voice for the marginalised.
“Truth to power when you are challenged and you have to step up to the plate, do not hold back. We all have within us to achieve whatever we want.”
— DOREEN LAWRENCE
