Joy Ford Austin is a Guyanese-American non-profit executive, philanthropist, humanitarian, and arts patron. She was the director of the African American Museums Association, which she helped found in 1980, and worked with institutions to preserve African-American culture and history. From 2000 to 2020, Austin served as the executive director of Humanities DC, an affiliate of the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

. Since stepping down as executive director of Humanities DC, she has served as the president of AustinFord Associates and as the chief executive officer of Joy Ford Austin Arts and Humanities Advocacy.

Early life and education

Austin was born in

Georgetown, Guyana Georgetown is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Guyana. It is situated in Demerara-Mahaica, region 4, on the Atlantic Ocean coast, at the mouth of the Demerara River. It is nicknamed the "Garden City of the Caribbean." It is ...

. She is the daughter of John Meredith Ford, who served as

Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

of Georgetown from 1970 to 1972, and Sarojini Janki Ford, who worked in the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. Her paternal grandparents were Ernest Lochmohr Ford and Florence Jean Goring. Austin's maternal family were indentured servants from India who arrived in Guyana during colonial rule and joined the

Canadian Presbyterian Mission Canadian Presbyterian Mission was a Presbyterian Church in Canada missionary society that was involved in sending workers to countries such as Trinidad and Tobago during British rule and China during the late Qing Dynasty, the most famous of which ...

. Her maternal grandfather, Thomas Janki, was the first ordained Presbyterian elder for

Demerara Demerara (; , ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state from 1792 unti ...

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

. She was raised in the Presbyterian faith and attended Burns Memorial Presbyterian Church, the first congreagation of the Guyana Presbyterian Church. She graduated in 1968 from St. Rose's High School, a Catholic school run by the

Ursulines The Ursulines, also known as the Order of Saint Ursula (post-nominals: OSU), is an enclosed religious order of women that in 1572 branched off from the Angelines, also known as the Company of Saint Ursula. The Ursulines trace their origins to th ...

. She studied English literature at

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, graduating in 1972. In 2002, Austin earned a master's degree in organizational leadership from

Trinity Washington University Trinity Washington University is a private Catholic university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was founded as Trinity College by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in 1897 as the nation's first Catholic liberal arts college for women. T ...

Career

Austin worked as a program manager at the Center for Arts and Culture in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

from 1998 to 2000. From 2000 to 2020, she served as the executive director of Humanities DC, an affiliate of the

. In 2005, she launched the D.C. Community Heritage Project, a partnership between Humanities DC and the city government's Historic Preservation Office focused on preserving D.C. historic buildings and documenting the histories of people who lived and worked there. As executive director, she also produced the D.C. Digital Museum and managed Culture Capital. She was the founding director of the African American Museums Association from 1980 to 1987. As a director, she worked with

DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, formerly the DuSable Museum of African American History, is a museum in Chicago that is dedicated to the study and conservation of African-American history, culture, and art named after Jean ...

Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History (The Wright) is a museum of African-American history and culture, located in Detroit, Michigan. Located in the city's Midtown Cultural Center, The Wright is one of the world's oldest an ...

Boston African American National Historic Site The Boston African American National Historic Site, in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts's Beacon Hill neighborhood, interprets 15 pre-Civil War structures relating to the history of Boston's 19th-century African-American community, connecte ...

Hampton University Museum Founded in 1868 on the campus of Hampton University, the Hampton University Museum is the oldest African-American museum in the United States and the oldest museum in Virginia. It is the first institutional collection of work by African-American ...

Anacostia Community Museum The Anacostia Community Museum (known colloquially as the ACM) is a community museum in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is one of twenty museums under the umbrella of the Smithsonian Institution and was the ...

Great Plains Black History Museum The Great Plains Black History Museum currently resides on the first floor of the historic Jewell Building in North Omaha, Nebraska. It was formerly located at 2213 Lake Street in the Near North Side neighborhood in North Omaha. It was housed ...

, and

Black American West Museum The Black American West Museum and Heritage Center, located in Denver, Colorado, is a museum dedicated to telling the story of African American men and women who helped to settle and develop the American West, including Black cowboys. It was foun ...

. Austin is the founder and president of AustinFord Associates, a consulting firm that works with the Presidential Commission for the

National Museum of African American History and Culture The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), colloquially known as the Blacksonian, is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in 2003 an ...

, the

W. K. Kellogg Foundation The W. K. Kellogg Foundation was founded in June 1930 as the W. K. Kellogg Child Welfare Foundation by breakfast cereal pioneer Will Keith Kellogg. In 1934, Kellogg donated more than $66 million in Kellogg Company stock and other investments to ...

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

, Telesis Corporation, and the Chicago Housing Trust. Since May 2020, she has served as the chief executive officer of Joy Ford Austin Arts and Humanities Advocacy.

Personal life

Austin became a naturalized American citizen when she was twenty-six years old. She is married to

Bobby William Austin Bobby William Austin (born December 29, 1944) is an American sociologist, lecturer, and writer. He is a leading scholar on African-American men and boys and was the first person, as a Program Officer with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, to fund major ...

, a sociologist and writer. One of their daughters, Ariana Joy Lalita Austin, is married to

Prince Joel Dawit Makonnen Prince Joel David Makonnen Haile Selassie (''Yoel Dawit Makonnen Haile Selassie''; born 5 May 1982) is an attorney, businessman, philanthropist, writer, and member of the Ethiopian Imperial House of Solomon. He is the great-grandson of Haile Se ...

, a great-grandson of Ethiopian Emperor

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

. She is the aunt of cultural worker and community organizer Priya Dadlani.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Joy Ford Living people African-American women in business African-American Presbyterians American nonprofit executives American people of Indo-Guyanese descent American Presbyterians American women chief executives British Guiana people Guyanese emigrants to the United States Guyanese Presbyterians Indo-Guyanese people Institute directors McMaster University alumni Naturalized citizens of the United States People from Georgetown, Guyana Trinity Washington University alumni Women nonprofit executives Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)