Joy brings two decades of experience in policy research, management, and operations to NORC. She works with senior leadership across research departments to grow NORC’s profile and impact through strategic planning, business development, and operational improvements. As an associate director, Joy works on cross-cutting strategic initiatives and special projects to strengthen and grow the Socio-Economic and Global Research group as well as on research projects in the education and labor policy space.

Before joining NORC, Joy spent over 20 years at the RAND Corporation, where she served as a senior policy analyst and a director of research department operations. Her research expertise spans organizational design and management, strategic planning, governance, and program evaluation, with a strong focus on translating research into actionable insights for policy and implementation. Joy has worked in both national and international contexts, with her most recent projects including an evaluation of school improvement network initiatives, establishing outcome metrics for a National Guard youth program, and exploring methods to help employers assess the risk of hiring individuals with criminal records. She was based in the Middle East for five years where she served as the primary local client liaison and worked on major reforms of higher education and social service organizations in Qatar and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.