Hi, I’m Joy.
I live in the hyphen.
comms specialist-programs coordinator-nonprofit co-founder-mom-fiction writer-former actor-journalist-essayist.
I started my professional life as an actor in New York City. For seven years, I embodied characters who changed my life and worked with teams that made magic happen night after night.
How did I do it?
I waited a lot of tables! But I also supported myself in arts education and communications, which is at the root of the work that moves me today.
And then I pivoted.
Ever a writer and a traveler, I moved to West Africa to work as an international journalist in Benin Republic (after doing a Masters in international reporting). I wrote about people whose stories I’m honored to have told for publications of my journalistic dreams, like CNN and Al Jazeera to name a few.
In 2020, the most recent addition to the hyphen arrived: I became a mom and in the long, quiet hours of confinement and new motherhood, I started writing fiction.
And now I sit at the helm of a literary nonprofit which I co-founded called Black Women Writers in Europe (BWWE).
As a co-founder of a small, growing organization, the hyphen is real (!), but I primarily work as our programs coordinator and communications specialist, roles where I synthesize everything I’ve learned in my hyphenated existence.
Thanks for visiting my website and for being in the hyphen with me.