Dr. Joy Young is Executive Director of the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville. Young is committed to ensuring that investments in arts and culture enrich life in Northeast Florida. Her work includes shaping strategy as well as developing and executing proactive and quantifiable arts and cultural-based initiatives that address priority issues such as economic and community development. She advocates for arts funding for the nonprofit arts sector and artists, informs arts policy development and reform, and implements initiatives and programs that support the vision that the arts and culture are recognized by all as essential for quality of life.   

 

In addition to a year of service as an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow, Young has more than 25 years of experience in the arts as a performing artist, arts administrator, and an academic. She is a recitalist, sanctuary soloist, and studio background vocalist. Young's work at the South Carolina Arts Commission included directing programs in Leadership and Organizational Development, Artist Entrepreneurship, and Cultural Tourism while also  leading  administrative, human resources, and operations of the agency. Her contributions to academia include research and textbook development along with adjunct roles at Benedict College, the University of South Carolina, and Winthrop University's Master of Arts in Arts Administration. 

 

Young holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music, a Master of Arts in Voice Performance, and Doctor of Philosophy  in Organizational Leadership. Dr. Young's combination of education and experience provides both strength of practice and application that are critically important to Jacksonville’s key public sector arts and culture position.