Dorca Paulino: A Bridge Between Job-Seekers and the Judiciary
RIC alumna Dorca Paulino ’12 has been named the Rhode Island judiciary’s first diversity coordinator. Since her appointment in May 2017, she has set out to diversify the judiciary’s applicant pool by bringing job opportunities to inner-city high schools, colleges, technical schools and nonprofits.
Paulino is poised, astute, with a brilliant aptitude for numbers and a track record of achievements. At age 16, she graduated from Juanita Sanchez High School only to move directly into the corporate world, hired first by a small subcontracting firm in the areas of human resources and accounting and later hired by one of the largest contracting companies in the United States in payroll and sales.
But don’t be fooled. Paulino is not just another high-powered suit behind a desk, a strategist who has never been on the frontlines.
Born in the Dominican Republic, Paulino spent her early years in a city torn by civil strife that would forever shape her life direction. Her family lived in the town of Licey, where armed conflicts between the police and self-proclaimed communists, who were fighting for basic needs such as clean water and paved roads, occurred on a regular basis and often in the middle of the street.
The two factions warred in the same spirit and with the same violence as urban gangs in the United States. Gunfire was frequent and their home was firebombed numerous times by both police and communists in pursuit of their quarry who may have been hiding behind the Paulino home. Both her parents were ministers of the local church and gave last rites for the dead. “As a child, I went to a lot of funerals,” Paulino said, thoughtfully.
“I saw a lot of young lives being lost, kids who didn’t know that they had opportunities, kids who lacked mentors,” she said. “I think their lives would have been very different if someone saw value in them. But a lot of these kids came from broken homes. It was easier to join the communist group because they offered them attention.”
Relocating to America at age 12, Paulino would find that although the countries differed, the conflict was the same for urban youth in America.
“When we look at members of minority groups,” she said, “we find that many of them attend inner-city schools with limited resources. Their parents, too, lack resources. As a first-generation college student, I didn’t know anyone who had gone to college, but I was hopeful that hard work and dedication would open new doors for me.”
Unsure of which direction to take in life, Paulino earned an associate degree in general studies at CCRI. Transferring to RIC, she switched majors numerous times before finally pursuing what interested her most – human behavior and numbers. In 2012 she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and 27 credit hours of accounting courses.
“One of my psychology professors, Dr. Beth Lewis, became a role model and professional mentor,” she said. “Dr. Lewis was always there to give me career advice when I needed it the most.”
Throughout her college tenure, Paulino worked in the private sector and it was there that she discovered a profound lack of diversity.
“All of my coworkers were white males. The general contractors were white males. In every position I held, I was inevitably ‘the first and only’ – the first female and the only minority,” she said. “I realized, too, how state government did not reflect the diversity of the people it served.”
Paulino’s goal in earning a Master of Public Administration degree in 2017 at Roger Williams University was to influence diversity at the state level. As the judiciary’s first diversity coordinator, Paulino has set out to close the divide between underrepresented groups and employment opportunities within the state’s judicial system.
Based on Affirmative Action guidelines, Paulino indicated that a diverse workforce is inclusive of people of color, people with veteran status, disability status and gender differences. Though at one time female employees were underrepresented, today they make up 65 percent of the 695 full-time positions filled in the 2017 fiscal year, well above the national average, she said. Minorities make up 12.37 percent.
Paulino has created four outreach programs that target inner-city high schools, colleges, technical schools and a local nonprofit.
Students will be brought into the courts to meet a variety of judicial employees to learn about the qualifications they will need to pursue a judicial career.
Among the judicial system’s six courts are the Supreme Court, the Superior Court, the Family Court, the District Court, the Worker’s Compensation Court and the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal.
Students will also sit in on court proceedings to learn the rules of the court and gain an understanding of the services offered by the Rhode Island Judiciary. Instead of seeing the court system as a place to fear, they will gain an understanding of how the judicial system works.
Paulino will also partner with Year Up, a nonprofit in Providence that provides urban youth with the skills, internship experiences and support they need to reach their educational and career goals. She hopes to provide Year Up students with mentors from the judiciary and to encourage Year Up graduates to join the judiciary’s applicant pool.
It’s tempting to think that education and sustainable employment will truly level the playing field for minorities. Not entirely, said Paulino.
If lack of awareness limits the choices minorities make about education and employment, bias is the door that has often prevented them from gaining entrance once they’ve achieved the necessary education and skills.
“One of the ways to correct bias is to ensure that minorities have a seat at the table and hold positions of leadership,” said Paulino. “It is an honor for me to have a seat at the table and to be able to say, ‘This is a qualified applicant. Let us interview this person.’”
“In the words of Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor,” she added, “I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences. Serving as the diversity coordinator is one of those experiences. What I am most excited about is that this role will give me the privilege of facilitating opportunities for others.”