PAULETTE SENIOR - DIRECTOR

I was born and raised in Stockport of mixed Caribbean and British heritage, I experienced blatant and subtle racism as I grew up and I think I took that experience with me when I became a foster carer. I entered the sector at a time when there was a shortage of foster carers representing the black community and even today there are still too few of us to provide culturally relevant home care for children. As a single parent I have grown used to labels and prejudice and I can see the challenges that my foster children face and will continue to face throughout their lives. 
The work I do reveals that there is always a complex story behind a child entering care it’s often rooted in poverty, drugs and domestic abuse, so often the mother has reached a point that everything has broken down and she has nothing left to give. The fathers are rarely present in the child’s life and yet they are not judged with the same harshness. We live in a society that expects that the woman should be the best of mothers even when she has been beaten emotionally, physically and financially, I don’t judge because I know the challenges that I faced as a single parent. 

Being on the ItsHerstory cic board enables me to mentor and remind women to care for themselves because we can’t pour from an empty cup, we are human, we make mistakes we shouldn’t let that stop us from taking the lead in society. We are long way off equality, women of colour are not often given opportunities to become board members but it’s very important that we are visible in these roles, especially for the next generation, we need to raise them up...”you can’t be what you don’t see”