I am, was, and always will be a catalyst for change. ~ Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm

L. Joy Mitchell is a young social entrepreneur with a background in government and non-profit service. As an advocate for the average urban citizen, Joy believes in a mix of advocacy, public and private partnerships, and political participation in order to produce systematic progressive change in urban communities.

No slouch when it comes to hard work, Joy divides her time between several self created community projects while serving as Deputy Director of Community Relations for the NYC Comptroller, William C. Thompson, Jr. Prior to joining the Comptroller's office, Joy served as campaign manager to Assemblyman Karim Camara after serving as Special Assistant to the Honorable Gifford Miller, former Speaker of the New York City Council.

Joy credits her success to her ability to take initiative to make change happen. In 2002 while waiting to get hired on H. Carl McCall's campaign for Governor, she took initiative and voluntarily registered 1,823 new voters. She was later picked up by the campaign and became a part of the field operations team. That same initiative prompted her to create the Brooklyn Lives Project in response to the alarming rates of HIV/AIDS infections in Brooklyn .

Committed to serve, L. Joy Mitchell serves on various community boards and committees including Brooklyn Community Board 3, Chair of the Program and Membership Committee for the Bedford Stuyvesant YMCA, At-Large Board Member of the Brooklyn NAACP , and a member of Senator Kevin Parker's HIV/AIDS task Force. Joy is 29 and resides with her husband in the Bedford Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn .