MY BIO
LEADERSHIP
Joy Lindsay is an educator, researcher, and the Founder and CEO of Butterfly Dreamz, Inc. Based in Newark, NJ and Gary, IN, Butterfly Dreamz is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that equips girls to be confident leaders and supports them in achieving their dreams through holistic leadership development, mentorship, and intergenerational community action. Joy is the author and publisher of several young adult books and has worked in consulting, finance, and public education management.
SERVICE
Joy is an AMEX 100 for 100 Founder of Change, an Echoing Green Social Innovation Challenge Awardee, and the recipient of the Impact100 Essex County, NJ Impact Award. She is a proud member of the North Jersey Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. She is passionate about education, social entrepreneurship, and sustainable community development.
EDUCATION
Joy holds a BBA in Finance from Howard University and an MPA in Public & Nonprofit Management & Policy from NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Joy is currently an Ed.M. candidate at Harvard University Graduate School of Education, where she is studying Human Development and Education and serving as an Identity Project Fellow, conducting research on adolescents’ ethnic-racial identity development and culturally sustaining pedagogy.
Joy is also a Research Assistant with The Project on Workforce at Harvard, where she seeks to understand the role of community colleges in supporting regional economic development.
MOTIVATION
"Care more than others think is wise, Risk more than others think is safe, Dream more than others think is practical and Expect more than others think is possible." ~African Proverb
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Through her research and practice, Joy aims to build impactful organizations that empower marginalized people—particularly women and girls of color—to lead authentically and achieve upward mobility.
