After attending Imperial College, where she read Applied Biology, Palma found her passion for social justice as a founder-member of the Anti-Racist Alliance (ARA). The ARA succeeded in making racial harassment and violence criminal offences and supported many families of race murder victims. Palma was instrumental in the establishment of the Stephen Lawrence Family Campaign in 1993.

Palma has strong and steady history of working in and with communities in London and the southeast. She was head of community regeneration in a large G15 housing association for nearly 10 years and simultaneously worked as a Local Trust Consultant - Big Local Rep in Westminster and Islington – so she could ‘connect with communities and what matters to them’.

In 2019, Palma founded Soul Purpose 360 CIC; a community interest company that offers coaching, mentoring, and training for Black women engaged in community development. Soul Purpose 360 hosts the global Black Women’s Networking and Empowerment Circle and a growing network of local groups across the UK and beyond. In 2024 she won a global Coach of the Year Award in the Women Changing the World Awards and in 2025, she received a Certificate of Recognition from the Civic Mayor of Croydon for her thirty plus years volunteering in the borough.

Palma is an Associate Director at AtkinsRéalis; ‘Head of Community Engagement’ for EDAROTH (Everyone Deserves A Roof Over Their Head), a house building specialising in MMC (Modern Methods of Construction) addressing the social and affordable housing challenge using under-utilised land assets and engineering construction.

At Palma Black Consulting Ltd., she specialises in community and resident engagement and is an Associate Consultant for Communities First Ltd, providing support on estate regeneration schemes. She is a regular contributor to Inside Housing and a frequent speaker on platforms addressing inequalities in social housing.

Palma is the founder of Ahoden - a range of personal products from moisturiser, jewellery and books available on Amazon. Palma is a single parent and has singlehandedly and successfully raised two amazing daughters. They live in Surrey, and in her spare time – she engages in DIY build projects.