As someone who spent more than half her life as an expatriate, Joanna is passionate about belonging and building community wherever she is. She moved to Grand Rapids from Lagos, Nigeria to lead Calvin University along with her husband. At Calvin, she was successful at contributing to the significant turnaround in morale of the students, faculty and staff of the institution. She also launched a wide variety of new programs and initiatives that contributed to remarkable short term growth, and served as an advisor and mentor to Calvin students building start up businesses through the Start-Up Garage and the Women's Business Network.
Prior to moving to Michigan in 2022, Joanna spent 12 years in Lagos, Nigeria where she was the founder and CEO of Empire Jane, a business that manufactured and marketed Nigerian themed soft household furnishings. These products are now in thousands of homes around the world, including that of the Director General of a UN agency and the Vice President of Nigeria. In addition, her company led to the establishment and growth of an entirely new industry of Nigeria-focused high quality locally made products that celebrate Nigeria's culture and creativity.
Joanna has also lived and worked in Kenya and Mauritania, has a Masters degree in Human Resource Management from the University of London, and a bachelor's degree from Calvin College. She is from Trinidad and Tobago, and has four sons. In her spare time, Joanna loves to travel, read, write, enjoy music and the arts, and take high tea wherever and whenever possible.
