Joy L. Wiggins, PhD, is a author, TEDx speaker and scholar dedicated to advocating for justice through compassionate dialogue, aiming to foster equitable and transformative business practices. Dr. Wiggins brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her role as the Founder and Global CEO of Joy Wiggins, Ph.D.: Equity and Inclusion Consulting. Her firm focuses on keynote speaking, strategic planning, employee engagement and cross-cultural communication for global teams. Key themes are women’s empowerment, understanding biases and inclusive leadership. She co-authored "From Sabotage to Support: A New Vision for Feminist Solidarity in the Workplace," with Dr. Kami Anderson, and is a sought-after speaker at international conferences and workshops for executive teams.
From 2022-2024, Dr. Wiggins served as the Global DEI Content and Research Lead at Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), a Fortune 500 commercial real estate firm. Before that, she was an assistant professor at the University of Texas Arlington and instructor at Western Washington University from 2005-2022. She also led Texas Senator Royce West’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force, which focused on legislative bills addressing educational equity in K-12 and higher education.
Through her consulting business, Dr. Wiggins has collaborated with Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft, Paccar, NXP Semiconductors, Charles Schwab, Executive team and Editors of Rolling Stone, Variety, Hollywood Reporter for Penske Media Corporation (PMC) and various technology and financial firms. Her clients also include higher education institutions and non-profits. Sometimes referred to as Dr. Joy, she has inspired women to shed old, tired messages, stand up and take up space. She invigorates women to notice bias, push past it and stand in their truth.
I am deeply passionate about empowering women to embrace their power, overcome limiting beliefs, and choose the life and work they truly desire. With my global travel experiences and time living abroad, I also specialize in helping companies navigate cross-cultural communication and relationships with cultural competency. I also travel extensively and have moved to Lisbon, Portugal to live my best life!
More than 100 miles
I always get paid for speaking
During my time on the university diversity committee, a divide emerged between the men and women regarding hosting another cultural event. The men underestimated the workload involved, while the women were concerned about the disproportionate burden on us, especially one of the men's assistants, who was a woman. When we attempted to explain our stance, the men dismissed our concerns, with one calling us "dramatic" during a follow-up meeting while the other one declined to even talk with us about the issue. I addressed the historical implications of that term, emphasizing its not just dismissive nature towards women but very violent ways women have been treated when standing up for ourselves or pushing back on burdening us with more tasks. This sparked a valuable learning moment for the one who called us dramatic. He indicated he didn't realize the history of the term and I said, "I know, but now you do". When we describe the historical implications of someone's words or actions, it tells a story of the insidious nature of historical ramifications to the present moment. In this case, understanding the danger women place themselves in when they assert boundaries. Many times, people forget or just don't know our history.
Origin Story: Awakening to Advocacy
My journey into activism began during my college years. A pivotal moment occurred when a Black friend confided that he felt he had to leave the university because he feared for his safety. This was in 1992 at Texas Tech University, a time marked by deeply troubling incidents. Black football players found cotton plants placed outside their dorm room doors, and the following year, a fraternity held a "ghetto party" with members dressed in blackface. Concurrently, I witnessed numerous instances of harassment and discrimination against women.
These experiences opened my eyes to the urgent need for advocacy and inclusion. They drove me to focus my education on multicultural education and cultural identity. My commitment deepened as I pursued my doctoral studies, culminating in a dissertation exploring the intersections of race, gender, and socialization in education.
This formative period shaped my lifelong dedication to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, and it continues to fuel my passion for creating positive change.
For women to genuinely support each other, we must address the intersections of power and privilege, focusing on race, class, sexuality, and geography. By recognizing where we hold power and where we don't, we can leverage our privileges to create inclusive spaces for historically marginalized groups. This talk examines the dynamics of privilege and power within the feminist movement's history and identifies behaviors and ideologies that trigger implicit bias and microaggressions.
Key insights include:
- Understanding the varying intersections of power and privilege.
- Examining how privileges along different lines can be leveraged for support.
- Analyzing historical feminist dynamics to understand current challenges.
- Breaking down socialized behaviors that perpetuate implicit bias and microaggressions.
Joy leads interactive, deep dive discussions that help participants examine their socialization and how they can disrupt those messages to empower them to stand up for themselves.
By addressing these elements, we can move from sabotaging to truly supporting one another, fostering an environment where all women can thrive. This talk stems from the TEDx WWU conference, is used as a keynote and can also be offered as an interactive workshop.
Biases are ingrained in the way humans process and organize information about others, rooted in our need for survival and belonging. These biases, shaped by power structures, childhood experiences, geographic location, and generational context, influence how we perceive ourselves and others. This talk delves into the messages we received growing up that shaped our worldview and explores how societal power dynamics shape our perceptions and interactions.
Key questions addressed include:
- What childhood messages shaped our self-views and perceptions of others?
- How do societal power structures influence our biases?
- What types of biases affect our relationships?
- How can we change our perceptions and see the potential for change in ourselves?
By examining our lifelong socialization, this talk uncovers how biases lead to harmful or violent interactions and limit self-beliefs. Through constant self-awareness and reflection, we can challenge and overcome these limiting beliefs, fostering better relationships with ourselves and others.
This can be offered as a keynote or interactive workshop.
Cross and intercultural communication is crucial in business because it fosters understanding and collaboration among diverse teams and clients, enhancing productivity and innovation. By developing the skill to understand different cultures, businesses can build stronger relationships, navigate global markets more effectively, and avoid misunderstandings that can lead to conflicts or lost opportunities. This cultural competence leads to improved customer satisfaction, a more inclusive workplace, and a competitive advantage in an increasingly globalized economy. Cultural sensitivity has become essential for achieving business success. Multicultural teams drive innovation, with studies showing a significant link between diversity and higher revenue from innovation. Companies like Netflix exemplify leveraging cultural awareness by adapting content to local preferences, boosting global subscriber numbers. However, managing cultural diversity also entails risks, as demonstrated by eBay's failure in China and Snapchat's insensitive advertisement, highlighting the need for tact and compassion. Organizations must embed culture-sensitive strategies across all operations to harness their full potential and foster inclusive, innovative environments.
Key Insights:
-Leveraging Cultural Awareness: Adapting content and services to local preferences boosts global reach and customer satisfaction.
-Risks of Mismanaging Cultural Diversity: Lack of cultural understanding can lead to significant failures. Sensitivity to cultural dynamics is crucial to avoid alienating users and damaging relationships.
-Embedding Culture-Sensitive Strategies: Companies must integrate cultural awareness into all facets of operations, from HR to R&D and communications. Recognizing and leveraging diverse values and backgrounds as strengths fosters innovation and inclusivity.
Cross-cultural communication is essential for business success, fostering understanding and collaboration among diverse teams and clients, which enhances productivity and innovation. Developing cultural competence allows businesses to build stronger relationships, navigate global markets effectively, and avoid conflicts, leading to improved customer satisfaction and a competitive advantage.
This talk can be offered as a keynote or interactive workshop.
How can leaders cultivate self-awareness, empathy, and emotional intelligence to engage and support their employees? According to a Gallup poll, employees often leave their managers, not their jobs. Managers must develop emotional intelligence and cultural competency to recognize and nurture their employees' strengths, acknowledge their accomplishments, and provide consistent, constructive feedback. With 40% of employees leaving their jobs due to poor performance by their senior leaders and 96% believing empathy is crucial for retention, it's clear that effective leadership is essential. Studies repeatedly show that middle managers and senior leaders often lack the ability to develop and retain their employees. This talk delves into how leaders' socialization and self-reflection can help them cultivate the skills needed to create an inclusive, innovative workplace that thrives on mutual success.
Key Insights Include:
-Cultivating Self-Awareness: Understanding personal biases and their impact on leadership.
-Developing Empathy and Emotional Intelligence
-Recognizing and Nurturing Strengths: Techniques for identifying and leveraging employees' unique strengths.
-Building a Culture of Inclusion: Fostering a workplace environment that values diversity and inclusion and implementing policies and practices that support an inclusive culture.