Joy Young

Joy Young joined the Piper Center in 2021 as the Coordinator for Educational Programs. They hold a bachelor's degree in Women and Gender Studies and Liberal Studies which has shaped the ways they approach creating inclusive, dynamic programming. Joy has worked in the Phoenix community as a performance and teaching artist as well as a curriculum consultant since 2012. 

Joy is a nationally acclaimed slam poet and storyteller, having had work featured on Button Poetry and Everyday Feminism as well as on stages and in colleges and classrooms across the country. In 2018 they were awarded the Phoenix Mayor’s Arts Award for literary artist of the year and named Storyteller of the Year by the Phoenix New Times in 2019. Additionally Joy is the cofounder and editor of Prickly Pear Printing, a project dedicated to highlighting written and visual work with a focus on growth, beauty, and the celebration of bodies and narratives often silenced. In all pursuits, Joy is intent on creating work, programs and partnerships that ensure we amplify a diverse array of voices and is currently pursuing their MS in Justice Studies from ASU where they study storytelling and justice.