Judge Jaiza Page's Inspiring Career: From Columbus Roots to a Legacy of Justice, Education, and Public Service

Ever wondered how a young girl from Columbus could rise to become a beacon of justice? Join me, Coach Tim Brown, on the Be A Baller podcast and be inspired by the story of Judge Jaiza Page. From her formative years at the Columbus School for Girls to her life-altering time at Georgetown University, Judge Page's journey is a testament to the power of education, faith, and a strong family foundation. She opens up about the cherished values passed down from her mother and grandparents, and the influential mentors who paved her path to the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division. Her tale is not just about personal triumph, but also about the profound commitment to public service and instilling a legacy of positive change.

This episode is a celebration of second chances and the indomitable human spirit. Judge Page shares uplifting stories of individuals who have turned their lives around with the help of the justice system—finding sobriety, employment, or a new educational path. Judge Page shares the importance of nurturing aspirations in the legal field among our youth and the pivotal role faith plays in overcoming life's hurdles. As we discuss the concept of legacy, you'll be encouraged to reflect on your own impact and how you can contribute to a better world. Whether you're a law enthusiast, aspiring public servant, or simply someone who cherishes community growth, this conversation with Judge Jaiza Page will leave you motivated to craft a lasting legacy of your own.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

And as I think about the work that I do, many days I see people on their worst day because they are not sure what is going to happen to them. Are they going to get to go out of the front door, which means that they're going back home today, or are they going to go out the side door, which means that they are going to go to jail or prison?

Speaker 2: 0:24

Welcome to Be A Baller podcast where we discuss how to build a lifelong legacy. I'm your host, coach Tim Brown, today. I'm excited to have in the studio with me Judge Giza Page, and we're just so excited to have you on the show Today. On the show, giza will share her commitment to public service. Share her commitment to public service. After favoring serving in various elected officials, judge Page was selected to the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division. I've known Judge for a while, followed her path to all this great success, and I'm just so excited to have this conversation with you so welcome to Beer Baller Podcast.

Speaker 1: 0:59

Thank you so much. My pleasure to be here today.

Speaker 2: 1:02

I'm waiting on you to get on that television show. You know, I know you come and judge Judy and all that Judge. Jason. Even Steve Harvey has a show now, yes, he does. So you didn't bring your gavel with you, did you? No, not this time.

Speaker 1: 1:12

You're not going to pound on the table today are you, I promise I won't Everybody's good in here right.

Speaker 2: 1:16

We're all good, we're all good, you know. Growing up you were blessed. To finish, I think you said you spent your last two years at Columbus School for Girls. Yes, how did that all-girls school impact your life today?

Speaker 1: 1:28

So that's a great question. And I went to co-ed school from daycare all the way up until 10th grade and then my mom made the decision to transition me to Columbus School for Girls and I really enjoyed that experience. For some people you think, why would you want to do that with the last two years of high school, and particularly you're now going into a school that is all girls? But I found the environment to be very empowering. I think that it prepared me for college and it prepared me for a career and a life of just being, you know, someone who understands my strengths as a woman and who understands how to navigate and operate in society. So I really liked it.

Speaker 2: 2:09

Yeah, you left there. You went to Washington DC. Yes.

Speaker 1: 2:13

I went to Georgetown University and I was actually sharing with someone earlier today when I first applied People kept telling me that's the school where Patrick Ewan and Allen Iverson went, you know, and I was like well. I don't play basketball, so that's definitely not why I'm going there, but I did have the opportunity to complete my undergraduate degree at Georgetown.

Speaker 2: 2:35

Now leaving Columbus and going to DC. I'm sure that was a little different, a little different. Can you talk about the difference, maybe in the cities and what? How does CSG or Columbus prepare you for that experience?

Speaker 1: 2:48

Yes, so going to Washington DC is a big city. Growing up here in Columbus, we weren't the 14th largest city at that time and so our city was not as diverse. We did not have as many different like restaurants, let's say and we just weren't known for some of the things that we are now. But then going into DC, I transitioned into an area where you saw people from all different walks of life, people spoke many different languages, and I found my experience here in Columbus and at Columbus School, for Girls did prepare me for that. So I believe that I was just strong in who I am and my identity, and so I was able to enter into a new space that was a lot more fast-paced but still maintain who I was, and learn a lot about the city, and I had a great undergraduate experience.

Speaker 4: 3:43

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Speaker 2: 4:21

I know you are a strong young woman of faith. Can you talk about your faith journey?

Speaker 1: 4:26

Yes, so my family is a family of faith and I have always grown up with faith being at the forefront of our lives and the decisions that we make. I was baptized at the age of nine and I remember that because it was actually my ninth birthday, and you know. Since then, but even before, I have always held my faith very dear to my heart. It is an integral part of who I am and it's an integral part of the decisions that I make in my journey. I don't shy away from it. I pray all the time I read the word and to me it is, like I said, just really a part of who I am.

Speaker 2: 5:06

You know you have a close relationship with your family, with your mom, grandparents and all that. Can you talk about that relationship and some of those life lessons that you learned from mom and grandma?

Speaker 1: 5:16

Yes for sure.

Speaker 1: 5:17

My mom, my grandparents, my entire family, like I said, is a family of faith, and they are not short of providing me for lifelong lessons, and one of those being particularly the importance of education.

Speaker 1: 5:30

And when I was a junior in high school and my brother would have been a sophomore we were about 18 months apart, but just a year as far as grades Our mom graduated from Ohio Dominican University with her associate's degree, and so she had a career. She worked for the state for many years, and even at that time she had probably had 20 years with the state, and so the reason that she told us that she did that, particularly while we were in high school, was because she wanted to show us the importance of education and continuing our education after high school, and that's what we wanted to do. And so for me, it was awesome to be able to cheer my mom on I mean, she, my brother and I would many times have homework all at the same time, but it was just a great family experience, a great bonding experience, and it really showed me how much love my mom had for me and how hard she wanted me to work to pursue my dreams.

Speaker 2: 6:29

There's something about that sacrificial love of moms and just parents period, that unconditional love. Yes for sure, I think, for you seeing that example of education I always tell people you can't be what you don't see Exactly and seeing that I know that was a great experience. You all doing homework together and all that yeah. Now here's a real question who was the smartest in the family?

Speaker 1: 6:49

Well, I think it depends on the subject. So math was always my thing. Okay, my brother is a really good writer, oh wow. And my mom, like English, was like her thing, so English was her thing. So I was more like the math and science, even though I ended up in the legal field, which people normally say lawyers don't like math. But I really like math.

Speaker 2: 7:11

That leads to the next question Did you always want to be a lawyer? Where did that come from? Did you always want to be a lawyer?

Speaker 1: 7:16

So I wanted to be a lawyer since I was eight years old I was watching a show I think it was on ABC Family and I just remember that there were two parents who were having a custody battle over their child and there was a judge in the show and he said that the son needed to have a lawyer in order to represent like his interests, particularly with the parents fighting, and so I don't remember the title of it, but then I just said I want to be a lawyer and I want to help kids. And I saw the Client that movie a little later in life with one of my mentors at the time and I said this is definitely the work that I want to do. So it has stayed with me and I think that it has been my purpose and my path.

Speaker 2: 7:56

Awesome, awesome, who were some of your? You mentioned mentors, who were some of your early mentors.

Speaker 1: 8:02

So early mentors would have been, of course, my mom, my grandparents, particularly because they all moved from the South here to Ohio. They had high school diplomas, worked hard, taught me the importance of education, you know, and just really being good people, giving back to their community and being productive citizens. And as I began to kind of progress and go on, I met a woman named Joanne Davis who held a program at Ohio, dominican, that was called Village to Child. Remember that? T Street, yes, t Street, yes. I know that program well.

Speaker 1: 8:42

She was one of my Y mentors. I mean just the way that she poured into young people that she was not related to, I would say that was one of the first times I really saw that. And when I was in high school that was actually the first time I met then Judge Richard Pfeiffer, who later became the Columbus City Attorney, and I interned with him when I was a senior in high school and he has been one of my mentors since that time, before college. But since then I have gathered, or not gathered, but I have other mentors who have helped me along the way.

Speaker 2: 9:19

When you first ran for office. You know, can you talk about that experience? Who were some of those persons? Cause you know we see you out front. You know we're wearing your shirts. Cause I wore your shirts.

Speaker 3: 9:28

So we're wearing your shirts, you know we get people to go.

Speaker 2: 9:31

But who were those persons? Maybe behind the scenes? It really makes this thing because you're young. You were young then. Yes, you were young.

Speaker 1: 9:39

Who was that? Who were those people behind the scenes? So I had a group of people my family, close family friends Mr Pfeiffer was one of them that were kind of telling me where I need to go, where I need to be. It was my first time running for elected office and for those who know me and know me well, they know that this wasn't necessarily something that I would have said, I saw myself doing and I remember even Mr Pfeiffer he's like you're so quiet, you know, are you going to?

Speaker 1: 10:04

be, able to do. Do this work, you have to get out there, you have to be at the forefront. But it was him, my, my entire family and, like I said, those close family friends who were a strong group for me that were helping me along the way.

Speaker 2: 10:17

As you were out there. You mentioned that. What was that driving force inside of you to say, hey, I want to do this? What was that light bulb moment to say, hey, I can do this or I want to do this?

Speaker 1: 10:29

I mentioned, I'm a person of faith and I prayed about it. I talked to four people initially about it and and two of them said no. The two that said yes were my mom and my grandma, and I said, of course they're going to support me, because that's what family does, but other people in the political space were like we don't know about this.

Speaker 2: 10:47

Look at you now.

Speaker 1: 10:48

Yeah, and so through prayer and just really talking to wise counsel, seeking wise counsel, I thought that this is something that I can do and if it is for me to be here, then I will be successful, and that door was open. I was appointed in January of 2015 and then won my election and have just kept moving forward.

Speaker 2: 11:11

You know you were elected to city council and now you're a judge. What was that? And you were a city prosecutor as well, working in that office. So how was it? The day you were elected judge, you began that position on the other side of the courtroom Instead of sitting out here. Now you're here, you know, with the robe on yes. So how was that experience? How was that?

Speaker 1: 11:36

So the very first day probably the entire first month I was very nervous, very scared, because now I am sitting in the place, like you said, where the decisions are made, and I have to determine whether or not someone is going to go prison and be away from their family. I have to make decisions on civil cases where someone was maybe harmed by another person and to determine whether or not they're liable and will have to pay money. So I and I'm still nervous at times. It's not like that has gone away, but that very first first month I was like this is a huge responsibility and I am grateful to be in this position, but I want to make sure that I am doing everything that I need to do in order to make the right decisions.

Speaker 2: 12:17

That's good. That's good and speaking of that, you know, we know you have a commitment to helping the next generation. What was the vision for the Justice for All Youth Summer Camp? This is the third year or fourth year.

Speaker 1: 12:29

It'll be my fourth year, oh wow.

Speaker 2: 12:30

What was the vision for that camp?

Speaker 1: 12:32

So, during the height of the pandemic in 2020, I was on a virtual town hall with Auditor Michael Cinziano, and so people were able to ask questions. Again, it's virtually, but I think I recognized this voice and someone says Judge Page, what are you going to do for young people since all of their summer camps are canceled? And I said, oh, I don't know. You know, I never thought about it in a position as a judge. So I talked to our court administration. I talked to one of my colleagues on the bench and I said I want to do a virtual summer camp, and so it started. We would do it one hour on Fridays and it was on Zoom, and we would introduce them to prosecutors, defense attorneys and just the law. So we had a lot of great interest.

Speaker 1: 13:15

We did it again the next year again virtual and then parents continued to reach out. I didn't do it in 2022. And I thought how can I make this an in-person experience? So, with the support of my colleagues on the bench, as well as the Franklin County Board of Commissioners, with the funding, we were able to do it in person, in partnership with the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and always with the charities, which was founded by George Reese, I think. He's a former OSU basketball player, and so the three of our organizations together are able to provide this one week free program to youth in our community 6th through 12th grade who are interested in learning about the legal system.

Speaker 5: 13:56

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Speaker 2: 15:01

What were some of these last couple of years? What's been some of the highlights?

Speaker 1: 15:04

about the work that I do.

Speaker 1: 15:14

Many days I see people on their worst day because they are not sure what is going to happen to them.

Speaker 1: 15:18

Are they going to get to go out of the front door, which means that they're going back home today, or are they going to go out the side door, which means that they are going to go to jail or prison?

Speaker 1: 15:27

And so, understanding that, some of my highlights have been when someone has successfully completed probation, so they have taken the chance that they were given to get sober, to gain full employment, sometimes to complete their GED and to give back to the community and to have them come back and just to show me the work that they have done, those. That is really a lot of my highlights, and sometimes it's even when people are released from prison and it could be like an early release and they continue to do well and just being able to provide programming to the young people and the community. So many of them have become interested in the law and they want to be lawyers, judges, some want to go into law enforcement and to be able to plant a seed, because I know how important that was for me to have someone who will believe in you. I always tell my fellow introverts that there's no right or?

Speaker 1: 16:25

wrong way to be a lawyer and you know, those are things that just really keep me going.

Speaker 2: 16:32

Just listening to you, I have this. I've heard this said that real change happens when the people who need it lead it. Awesome, when you think about the civil rights movement and even things going on today. Real change really happens when the people who need it lead it, and I believe that you're one of those change agents that you're in that position to help lead the change and to bring.

Speaker 2: 16:53

But the beauty of what you're doing is you're bringing others along with you. Heard in with your camp, the partnerships with George Reese and all I say. You're bringing others along. So it's not just. I think we recognize we can't do it by ourselves. You know we have to bring the right people and the right people along with us. Speaking of that, what words of advice and encouragement would you give the young girls interested in pursuing law?

Speaker 1: 17:13

So one I would say never let anybody discourage you from being an attorney. And so there are a lot of misconceptions and stereotypes about what a lawyer is or what they do. People assume that all lawyers like to argue. That's not the case.

Speaker 1: 17:29

People assume that all lawyers like to talk a lot. That's not the case. I remember remember again because people say I'm quiet Someone told me it was at my church that you shouldn't be a lawyer, you should be a librarian because you don't like to talk a lot. And so I was just thinking there may be some librarians who like to talk a lot, but they just enjoy books and the study of books and that stuff. But I want to be a lawyer, and so I think it's just really important to, if that's your goal, to continue to pursue it and to, if you're a person of faith, hold strong to your faith and you'll achieve all of your dreams as I listen to you, I hear this underpin of faith throughout, throughout this conversation.

Speaker 2: 18:08

You know, uh, and just believing that the bible says this and jeremiah, that God has a plan for it, a plan for a future and a hope. Yes, we just follow God. It's not only you've been really following God's plan, and because that, you know how people say that they're always looking for a successor or whatnot. But it's really God's blueprint is for you. Nobody can do what you're doing.

Speaker 1: 18:32

Yes.

Speaker 2: 18:32

Because that was God's plan for us, not anybody else's plan, and I'm so glad that you listened to the voice of the Lord and not to them, two other people who say you know you can't do this. You know and look at you now. This is a podcast about legacy. You think about that word. What does that word mean to you?

Speaker 1: 18:49

That's a wonderful question, and I actually had the opportunity to speak with a class of fifth graders earlier this week and I asked a few of them what do they want to be when they grow up? And a young man said he wants to be an NFL player. And so I said well, why do you want to be in the NFL? And he said because, after I retire, I want people to remember me. And so I said so that's what a legacy is. You want to do something, whether it's as a professional football player or in any other career that impacts change, and you want people to remember you positively for the change that you have impact for the change that you have made, and so, for me, legacy is important.

Speaker 1: 19:28

I believe that everybody leaves a legacy. We normally only talk about legacy in the sense of people that we think have done these amazing things, but everybody leaves a legacy. We normally only talk about legacy in the sense of people that we think have done these amazing things, but everybody leaves a footprint here on this earth, and it's deciding if you want it to be a positive one or a negative one, and so I want to leave a positive legacy and just make sure that I, as you said, am bringing people along with me and opening up doors to show young women and to show young people of color that they are able to do the same things and even greater than what I'm doing.

Speaker 2: 20:00

That's awesome, you know, part of this whole building a lifelong legacy. We have Bill Gates, warren Buffett, elon Musk all those guys have a giving pledge where they're giving away all their money to philanthropy, have a giving pledge where they're giving away all their money to philanthropy. So it's part of this legacy. Now you're a baller now, so you're part of this deal. We have what we call a wisdom pledge Okay, and that is giving away all our wisdom. And the other part of that is we have to be intentional about giving away every conversation. You know, there's no secrets out there, right? We just have to be intentional about every young person. Every person we come in contact with is sharing some wisdom. You know, with leaving them with a nugget, like you know, left me with a bunch of nuggets here.

Speaker 3: 20:39

That whole introvert thing I like that you know and that librarian thing you should be a librarian, you're too quiet.

Speaker 2: 20:44

You know Lawyers, even lawyers. When you think of lawyers you always think about people's arguing. You know that's not necessarily the case, because here you are with that smile, with that sweet spirit, and you're a judge. When you think about judges, you're thinking about the people that's going. You know they all groggy, brown, whatever. And then you're smiling at people out there. They're like hey, what's going on here? Is this a judge? What's my sentence? But that's the blessing of who you are. This brings us to the end of this episode.

Speaker 2: 21:13

I want to thank you first off for answering that call you know when you saw that on television at eight years old and, hey, this is what I want to do. And then you said it's not just, it wasn't about you want to do it for the money or to be successful. It's to help children, it's to help those that are defenseless, so to speak. You know to be that advocate for them, to be that person in the room. You know fighting for them. And that's what you're doing on that bench fighting for people to give them a second chance. You know giving them an opportunity. You know, and so we appreciate you for that, for that service that you're doing for the community. And also thank you for your commitment to the Lord Judge Page about your summer program, your Justice for All Youth Summer Camp. Can you tell the audience that they have a young person who may be interested in law? How can they get involved in the program?

Speaker 1: 21:57

Yes, so we have an application that is available on our court's website and I'm with the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas General Division so if you just Google that, you can see the application materials. It's on the front page. Also, you can send an email to justiceforall all of that spelled out at gmailcom and you can get the applications too.

Speaker 2: 22:19

I want to thank you, our special guest, Judge Page, for sharing her commitment to serving the community and being a positive example for young girls. Thank you for joining us for this enlightening and powerful discussion on building a legacy in service. Hope this episode was beneficial to you. As always. Thanks for listening to Be A Baller podcast. Thank you.

Speaker 1: 22:40

Thank you so much Appreciate you.

Speaker 3: 22:47

If you enjoyed our show. Please share this podcast with family and friends. Be A Baller podcast is available on all major podcast stations. Be sure to come back next week as we continue to discuss on how to build a lifelong legacy. Until then, don't forget to be a baller. This podcast was created by Coach Tim Brown and produced and edited by the video production class of Worthington Christian High School.