Breast Cancer Warrior/Advocate

Living Beyond Breast Cancer, Young Advocate Trainee

Georgia Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (GaLEND) Family Advocate Trainee

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Ebony-Joy Igbinoba is a native of Miami, Florida. She grew up in a household infused with two cultures. Her father is an immigrant from Nigeria and her mother is Black-American. This background laid the foundation for her devotion to social justice, cultural communication and transformative leadership.

Ebony-Joy has a B.A. in International Affairs and Cultural Anthropology from Florida State University. She has a M.S. in International Affairs from Florida State University and an M.S. in Teaching English as a Second Language from Nova Southeastern University. She is currently in the dissertation phase of a doctoral program at Northeastern University in Organizational Leadership. Her research is framed with Critical Race Feminism and is focused on documenting the lived experiences of Black women with gendered racial police profiling through counternarrative storytelling. She is committed to intersectional research, empowerment and resilience for BIPOC and marginalized communities, cultural competency, diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusion training and advocacy.

Ebony-Joy was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer in 2019. She was a single mother of kids ages 5 and 6, had just completed the coursework of her doctoral program and was in between teaching contracts as an adjunct professor. She started cancer treatment and the world shut down during the COVID 19 pandemic. During this adversity she found support online with her church and the cancer community. Most importantly, she found her voice as a patient advocate by participating in Gryt Health online meetings. During treatment, she noticed racial disparities in treatment and outcomes in the cancer community. She has committed the next part of her journey to focus on healing and advocating for others.

Ebony-Joy’s ability to persevere and commitment to building a more inclusive world is founded in her faith in God. Her muses in life and best co-survivors are her daughter and son. Her toy poodle brings light and laughter every day. She is blessed with an amazing army of family, friends, medical team and community members to support her journey. In her spare time, Ebony-Joy is an avid sports fan of her kids that play soccer, football, and lacrosse. She also loves to travel, read, and volunteer.