PBCBA BAR BULLETINS MAY 2020 BULLETIN | Page 14

Member Spotlight Kalinthia Dillard by Andrew Kwan This month, I have the distinct privilege of writing about one of the Law Related Education Committee’s former chairs, Kalinthia Dillard. Kalinthia has been a prominent attorney and force for good in our community for over 20 years. She currently serves as Deputy Inspector General and General Counsel at the Palm Beach County Office of Inspector General. In that role, Kalinthia provides vital legal advice to the Inspector General and OIG staff regarding audits, investigations, and reviews relating to government waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement within Palm Beach County and thirty-nine municipalities. She is herself a Certified Inspector General (CIG), Certified Inspector General Auditor (CIGA), and Certified Inspector General Investigator (CIGI). Before joining the OIG, Kalinthia was a senior attorney for the School District of Palm Beach County, a commercial litigator with several private law firms, and a law clerk for Judge Matthew Stevenson (retired) at the Fourth DCA. Kalinthia earned her bachelor’s degree and JD from Clemson University and FSU, respectively, racking up a series of achievements, book awards, and service honors. Kalinthia and her family hail from Greenville, South Carolina. When asked who has inspired her, Kalinthia immediately named her mom, Glenda Dillard. Glenda was a teen mother who unfortunately did not have an opportunity to finish high school (she eventually earned a GED) or attend college. However, Glenda was an ardent reader who always stressed the importance of education to Kalinthia and her three sisters, all of whom ended up graduating from college and three of whom attained professional degrees. Kalinthia’s service to our community is, again, so extensive that I can only outline it here. She was recognized as the 2018 Law Related Education Association Attorney of the Year for her work with civics education. Additionally, she is the immediate past president of the West Palm Beach (FL) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, an organization of professional women of color who engage in education, civic, and cultural activities that enrich the lives of women and families in Palm Beach County. Through Kalinthia’s work with The Links, the organization raised more than $100,000 for scholarships and programs, organized voter registration drives, mentored children in foster care, worked with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to raise money to find a cure for blood cancers, and worked to decrease the disparity in outcomes for African-American women with breast cancer. In her spare time, Kalinthia is a world traveler, an avid reader, and a scrapbooker. Above all, she is a devoted mother, and enjoys tending to the butterfly garden she started with her 11-year-old daughter. Like those butterflies, we are all enriched by Kalinthia’s work in our community – thank you, Kalinthia! If you know a member who should be featured, please let us know by emailing [email protected] PBCBA BAR BULLETIN 14