CHICAGO (WLS) — For Juliana Stratton, the first Black woman elected as Illinois lieutenant governor, the trailblazing path of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is all too familiar.

“I am overjoyed,” she said. “I am excited. I think about how this moment resonated with me.”

Stratton is the fourth woman to hold the office of Illinois lieutenant governor. Currently, there are eight Black lieutenant governors and four are women.

RELATED: Ketanji Brown Jackson will join more diverse and conservative high court

Stratton assumed off in January 2019. Since taking office she has spearheaded justice and equity initiatives for women and girls and agrees there needs to be more diversity in federal courts.

“I recognized how important it is for little Black girls, little girls all over the country, all children, quite frankly, to know that this space, the Supreme Court, is a space that they belong as well.”

The lieutenant governor was among the Illinois delegation who met with Judge Jackson during her confirmation hearing.

Jackson, who has been a federal district court judge, and appeals court judge, and a public defender made history when she was confirmed to the Supreme Court on Thursday, making her the first Black woman to become a Supreme Court justice.

As a lawyer herself who has served as a mediator, arbitrator and administrative law judge, Stratton uniquely understands the pressure and expectations that come with the significance of the moment.

“So I think that she can expect that there are going to be a lot of young people who are going to be inspired by her, who will tell her because she is, they will be too,” Stratton said.

Copyright © 2022 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.

ncG1vNJzZmhqZGy7psPSmqmorZ6Zwamx1qippZxemLyue82erqxnmqqxqLGMpJytmZ6ftm62wJyirKeeYq%2Bzu9anqmarpaW%2FprnEZpqoraKpeqS7zZ%2Bgq6WRqbawuoyhmKxlo6WypLXApWSmnZGjtq%2BzjJ%2Bmq2WWmrmtu9Zmq6uZmaGvra3ZnqlmoZxiubV5xqitZqKlobaiusBmqq2qkanBsLqO