Along that journey, after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in history from MU, she went on to earn law and nursing degrees, as well. Now, following a distinguished career as a lawyer and several years as a registered nurse, Daley is stepping into her newest and most high- profile role, as a New York City Family Court judge.
“It’s not lost on me that, as a Black woman and an immigrant woman, I’m still a minority within the judiciary,” she says. “I’m looking forward to being more impactful and having a more far-reaching effect on my community by the work that I’m going to be able to do.”
Daley’s family immigrated from Jamaica to the United States in 1989. Right away, she enrolled at Bronx Community College, where she was a standout sprinter on the track and field team. Fortuitously, her coach was a Jasper — Lesleigh Hogg ’70. He suggested that she complete her degree at Manhattan, where she would compete at the Division I level.
“College was still a period of assimilation and of culture shock for me,” she recalls. “My track and field teammates were my home, my friends.”
Daley’s career goal was to become a lawyer. But, having admired her mother’s work as a registered nurse, she also felt drawn to the nursing field. The two lines of work seemed diametrically opposed. With law school in mind, she pursued a major in history and a minor in religious studies, becoming the first person in her family to graduate from college.
Daley quickly secured a paralegal position in the garnishment and subpoena unit at Prudential Securities.
“I did not know what garnishment was, or what a subpoena was,” she says. “But I thought, ‘I’m going to learn.’” Her interviewer happened to be Joseph McGill ’85, J.D. “He was also a track person, so that helped.”
After a year at Prudential, Daley took the LSAT and was accepted to Touro Law Center on Long Island, which she attended full time from 1994-97. She was admitted to the New York State bar in 1998 and was hired by the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS). She sometimes dealt with cases that involved hospital records. The experience reignited her interest in nursing.
“I was working on cases of abuse and neglect,” she says. “I thought, ‘I could use nursing in this way. Why I don’t I go back to school?’”
It took several more years for her to act on that urge. In the meantime, after three years at the ACS, she took a position in the family law department at District Council 37 (DC37) Municipal Employees Legal Services Plan, New York City’s largest public employee union. There, she represented city employees in family court on a wide range of cases involving visitation, child support, paternity, orders of protection and other issues.
In 2012, while working at DC37 full time, she began attending a night and weekend nursing program through the Montefiore School of Nursing. She earned her associate degree in nursing, then went on to receive her bachelor’s degree in nursing through an online program at Chamberlain University.
After almost 16 years of service at DC37, she obtained a full-time nursing position at NYU Langone, where she worked for a surgical intensive care unit and later as a risk manager, which was particularly suited to her unique skill set. However, the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic brought into stark relief the need for her services in family court.
“When people are locked into their homes [as they were during the pandemic], domestic violence and child abuse cases surged,” she explains. “This is because work is respite for a survivor of domestic violence. School is respite for a child who might be abused or neglected at home or not getting adequate food.”
She returned to the legal field as a managing attorney for the family law department at My Sister’s Place, a Westchester County agency that provides services to survivors of human trafficking and domestic violence.
“I wanted to marry both my nursing and my family court experience together and use it to serve my community and help people,” she says. “That’s just how I’m wired.”
Daley next set her sights on becoming a judge. With that in mind, she became a court attorney referee in Bronx Family Court.
“In that role, I did everything that a judge does: conference cases, had trials, wrote decisions, issued orders,” she explains. “You could only do all of these things with the consent of the litigants.”
She submitted her application to the mayor’s committee on the judiciary in New York City, and was appointed to the family court bench in December 2024. Her term took effect on January 1, 2025.
Reflecting on this demanding, yet immensely rewarding, new phase of her career, Daley is excited about the positive impact that she can have.
“I’m looking forward to being able to help my community, to be more impactful by the work that I’m going to be able to do,” she says. “I’m super excited about that.”
Daley also contributes to the legal profession through membership in various New York State and Westchester County bar associations. She was recently elected president of the Westchester Black Bar Association.
As if all that weren’t enough, Daley continues to compete — and win — at a high level as a track and field athlete. She competes internationally and has set numerous records as a sprinter and hurdler, winning 25 USA Track & Field titles in her career. Her achievements were recognized by Manhattan University in 2016, when she was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame.
As featured in the Fall 2025 issue of Manhattan Magazine.