Joy was born and educated in Guildford, Surrey, UK. Trained as a junior secretary and worked in Guildford in a law firm until she went to Germany for two years as an ‘Au Pair’, living with a family, looking after children and learning German.
Returned to the UK in 1965 where she worked for the Getty Oil company for three years before resigning choosing to work as a voluntary full-time worker with Initiatives of Change (IofC), an international NGO, in the Film Department in London, UK.
At the end of 1969, Joy joined the cast of the musical revue, 'Anything to Declare' when the cast of 100 travelled to India, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand before returning to India.
Joy remained in India for a further three years working in Bombay (Mumbai) on IofC’s weekly magazine Himmat. In 1973 Joy returned to the UK and worked at the IofC centre in London. Secretarial /Administration has been her main occupation wherever she has travelled. In 1977 Joy took a sabbatical for six months visiting family in the United States and working at IofC’s New York Centre.
In 1978 Joy married Keith Newman of Alberta, Canada. They have lived in Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and since 2000 have settled back in Calgary.
Joy has taken leadership roles in Creators of Peace (international), Bridges to a Common Future (Calgary) and Community of the Americas (international). International involvement has taken her to Switzerland, China, Mexico, Brazil and across North America. Joy has served on IofC’s International Panel of Elders, and has been Canadian National Coordinator. Joy was Manager of MRA Books in Canada for many years and Assistant Registrar at IofC’s International Conference Centre at Caux, Switzerland for 16 summers. She has also served as IofC Canada’s Secretary to the Council of Management, Member of the Council of Management, and retired as Chair and Treasurer in May 2011.
To keep a close connection with the local community wherever she has lived, Joy’s volunteer work has included the Emergency Youth Shelter in Edmonton, as a Court Worker with the Elizabeth Fry Society in Ottawa, various positions in the Anglican Church of Canada, and co-founder of the Canadian Ottawa Jubilee Coalition. Recent occasional employment has been with the City of Calgary (Elections, Census and Enumeration) and Elections Canada (Elections). Currently she is volunteering both at her church on Outreach, teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) and at Calgary’s International Airport she is a White Hat Volunteer with Western Hospitality.
