Dr. Joy Cox is a body justice advocate using her skill set in research and leadership to foster social change through the promotion of body diversity, equity and inclusion. Receiving her PhD in Communication from Rutgers University in 2018 and being involved in fat acceptance since 2012, Dr. Cox has utilized the past 10 years to amplify the voices of those most marginalized in society, bringing attention to matters of intersectionality, addressing race, body size, accessibility, and “health.”  

In 2020, Dr. Cox and Bunmi Alo launched the community wellness app, Jabbie, that focuses on building the power of community while affording users the ability to keep their agency in choosing how to move their bodies. Jabbie specifically rejects the tenets of diet culture that assert hierarchies within the  fitness industry and what bodies are deemed acceptable.

In addition to her work in academia, Joy has been featured on several podcasts and media productions, not limited to CNN’s Chasing Life with Sanjay Gupta, the Tavis Smiley Show, and the New York Times. She is also the former chair of Diversity and Inclusion for ASDAH and the author of the book, Fat Girls in Black Bodies: Creating Communities of Our Own, which was released in September of 2020. 

Dr. Cox’s own personal story is one of an overcomer. Her goal in her work is to propel others into a place of freedom while addressing structural and interpersonal barriers that work incessantly to keep them hindered.