Lawson

Joy Lawson is currently the Program Director at Playworks Maryland. A non-profit focused on shifting school climate & building student leadership through safe, healthy, and inclusive play.

Joy has made a career in developing programming that advances the ideas and capacity of young leaders. Prior to Playworks Joy served as Director at Young People For (YP4), a program of People For the American Way Foundation, where she supported and resourced more than 700 aspiring nonprofit, community, and elected leaders. Prior to her time at YP4 Joy served in the field and training department at a national nonprofit focused on health care access. As student at University of Kansas, where she earned her degree in women's studies, Joy worked with local organizations as well as city and state school boards to ensure Kansas youth received medically accurate health education.

Joy is a Midwest Academy graduate, a 2006 Grassroots Organizing Weekend trainer, a proud Rockwood Art of Leadership: Women in Racial Justice alum, and an alumna of CoreAlign’s Speaking Race to Power program.