Joi Ridley’s passion rests in working with groups that are disenfranchised or unfairly stereotyped. She brings a diverse perspective on civil liberties, molded by her experiences as a Chicago native, a transplanted New Yorker, and policy advocate in the District of Columbia. As a Howard University alumna, Joi has been involved in civil rights advocacy and political campaign organizing for years. Her prior opportunities have offered a birds-eye view of both policy and citizens directly impacted by legislators’ decisions. She used these insights to fine-tune messages, looking to “meet audiences where they are,” avoiding unapproachable, regulation-ridden language.
Prior to her job with ReThink, Joi mastered her communications outreach abilities through work on the communications teams of the National Bar Association, the United Negro College Fund, the NAACP, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, and as an advisor to the National Newspaper Publishers of America. On the political side, she also worked for Obama '08 and earlier in her career served in the office of Rep. Bobby Rush. Joi has also worked to inspire innovative ways of addressing social ills among global audiences. She studied cross-cultural negotiations in Bangkok, Thailand and contributed news articles to publications in London and a French-language newspaper in Douala, Cameroon.
Joi echoes the sentiments of magazine mogul Henry Luce in shaping her personal interests and passions into a career: “I became a journalist to come as close as possible to the heart of the world.” Her works have been featured with Reuters News, USA Today, Congressional Quarterly, Money Magazine, Center for Effective Philanthropy, and Harvard Business Review. Joi has also served on Time Inc.’s editorial staff in New York City and regularly appears on The Daily Drum news program on Sirius XM. Joi’s daily creed is: “This is not just a job, this is my life’s work.”
