Guest Contributor: Joi James, MBA,
Mental Health Advocate, Podcast host of "Look at the Evidence" & Founder of finding joi, LLC
What does Black Mental Wellness mean to you?
Black mental wellness means ensured access to healthy and safe spaces for Black people, creating joyous and peaceful lives. Through resources such as Black Mental Wellness, we ensure this access through increased education and dialogue on practices that promote care, safety, and wellness for Black people that are essential to breaking harmful cycles of stress and trauma.
How do you promote change and well-being in the Black community?
As founder of finding joi, LLC. Joi James actively works with wellness practitioners and employers to create psychologically and physically safer spaces for Black womxn in institutional ecosystems. Utilizing frameworks of healing justice and racial equity, Joi works with institutions and Black womxn leaders to curate wellness events and create intentional workspaces that are reflective of long-term health, vitality, and joy. Events and consulting services intentionally draw upon Black womxn-owned wellness practitioners and vendors, increasing representation of Black vendors in institutional portfolios. Additionally, Joi's new podcast "Look at the Evidence" offers research and personal anecdotes that provide a window into ongoing challenges and health disparities that Black womxn face due to the design of our institutional ecosystems
Those interested in partnering with Joi and finding joi, LLC. can reach out to findmyjoi@gmail.com
What are some upcoming events you are leading, that promote mental health and wellness, that you would like for our Black Mental Wellness audience to know about?
Joi recently launched a new podcast titled "Look at the Evidence" on January 15th along with an accompanying fundraiser. The fundraiser aims to raise $25,000 by Juneteenth 2025. Funds will predominantly provide free events and wellness offering to Black nonprofit leaders and community organizations in the metro Detroit and Chicagoland areas. Funds will also be utilized to increase coaching and facilitation offerings for finding joi, LLC. throughout 2025. The "Look at the Evidence" podcast is for Black womxn seeking tools for long-term holistic care, mental wellness practitioners, institutional employers, and those who are passionate about creating a culture of care for our most vulnerable and disinvested communities.
In curating services, Joi intentionally works with Black womxn-owned wellness practitioners (i.e., wellness coaches, yoga instructors, reiki practitioners, massage therapists, estheticians, breathwork facilitators, etc.) and event vendors, increasing representation of Black vendors in institutional portfolios. If you are interested in becoming a finding joi, LLC. vendor sign up on their website at findmyjoi.com/partnerships
What are some ways that you promote mental health and wellness through your area of expertise (yoga instructor, clergy, mental health professional, etc.)?
Consistent daily movement practice (I love Pilates and working to become a certified instructor)
Down time to read / listen / explore areas of passion
Breathwork and somatic therapy with culturally competent health and wellness professionals
Video chats and intentional quality time with your support system
Tell us about your educational and/or professional training, and current area of expertise related to mental health and wellness?
My career has spanned topics of philanthropy, community development, diversity, equity, inclusion, mental wellness, and cross-cultural healing. This all started when I decided to swap my communications, and rhetorical studies major at Syracuse University for a bachelor's in forensic science and psychology. Forensics typically uses scientific expertise to analyze evidence that might be presented in a court of law. But I was mostly interested in examining evidence of how our environment can impact our physical and mental health, especially for historically oppressed communities and disinvested cities.
Now as a strategic business leader, mental health advocate, and former philanthropist, I have learned that curating intentional conversations is the first and most important step in shaping change in the face of systems of inequity. Armed with my personal and professional experience, I now have the ability to speak to why investing institutional capital, or the money made by our most wealthy industries, is key to reshaping equitable systems for Black women and femmes.
What are some things that we should know about your area of expertise?
Over the past seven years, I have dedicated my personal research and profession to addressing the curiosity of how our physical / perceived environment can impact mental and physical health. Researching impacts of lead in the health of Black children and parents, working to distribute millions of dollars for community development initiatives across the country, assessing the impacts of improper health care for BIPOC individuals, and facilitating visioning sessions for nonprofit leaders seeking to work across cultures to implement social change.
How can we encourage more people to seek mental health treatment?
To best encourage others to seek mental health treatment, I invite others to feel into their bodies and ask themselves at least daily "do I enjoy how I am feeling right now?". If the answer is no, then follow up with, "why?". Healing and addressing one's mental health can be exciting to explore and engage in consistently creating a more joyous life. Seeking mental health treatment can provide access to the life you are aiming to live one movement, morning tea, and/or therapy session at a time.
What are your recommendations for ending stigma in the Black community?
In a presentation on the history of scientific racism at the 2024 Black Mental Wellness Conference, Dr. Danielle Hairston, Psychiatry Residency Program Director at the Howard University Hospital said, "Most people say stigma comes from within the Black community. But in reality, it comes from a history of needing to survive." To best end mental health stigma within the Black community, we will need to create spaces that are not rooted in a survival mindset rather a mindset prepared for thriving. To do so, implementing strategies and providing wellness resources are essential such as daily movement and self-care on a personal scale or mental health / leave of absence policies, access to culturally competent and holistic healthcare, employee resource programs, and comprehensive benefits policies on a larger scale.
Do you have an experience with seeking mental health treatment that you would like to share with the Black Mental Wellness audience?
Over the past two years, I have worked with a breathwork and somatic healing coach paired with ongoing cognitive behavioral therapy. These treatment modalities increased my awareness and understanding of what my mind and body needs. Through this intentional investment in my self-care practice, I was able to identify daily movement that best worked for my health and healing journey, create consistent rituals that allow me to invest in my purpose and passion, and identify language to help me communicate boundaries with those around me. Through coaching and treatment, I have eliminated harmful environments and relationships from my life as well as increased my self-trust, proving to myself that I can live up to the dreams I have set for myself without compromising on my personal values.
How do you make time for your own wellness and self-care?
Finding the time in my day to romanticize my personal life was an unlock for self-care. I learned that I love a slow morning and regardless of what time I wake up in the day, making sure I have an hour or two to take my time for my facial routine, a Pilates workout, my daily steps and a morning coffee is key.
What are your top 5 favorite wellness and self-care strategies?
Daily movement - at least a quick workout and getting my steps in for the day (YouTube videos are a great free tool)
Romanticize daily activities - slowly cook yourself a recipe you've wanted to try or do a nice face mask after your nighttime skincare routine
Slow down with a good podcast or album
Quality time with a loved one or pet
Explore a favorite childhood activity or new hobby
What resources do you find most helpful to encourage mental health and wellness?
YouTube and social media has great meditation and fitness resources (@brialleringer has great meditation and breathwork resources on Instagram; Black Yogi Nico, and Pilates Bodies by Raven on YouTube are some of my favorite pages with quick workouts)
Identify a therapy / mental health practitioner that works best for you and your needs (TherapyforBlackGirls.com is a great place to start - if you enjoy art, try art therapy! if you've wanted to try a different diet, connect with a nutritionist)
Connect with your body and nature - find time to connect with your body's natural rhythm and notice when it is most energetic / when it needs time for rest and plan accordingly (keep a journal and take note of when you best enjoy your self-care, mealtimes, and rest)
Guest Contributor
Joi Ebele James is a mental health / healing justice advocate committed to destigmatizing conversations about mental health in institutional spaces. Joi has supported leading private foundations, research institutions, and city government systems to develop explicit strategies that center racial justice through the lens of mental wellness. Joi is founder of finding joi, LLC., a social venture dedicated to create psychologically and physically safer spaces for Black womxn and femmes in the workplace. Joi has facilitated and participated in speaking engagements with Urban Institute, The Kresge Foundation, Headspace Health, We Act for Environmental Justice, and the University of Michigan Ross Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office. Joi has a BA in Forensic Science & Psychology from Syracuse University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan.
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