Dr. Joy Banner is Co-Founder and Co-Director of The Descendants Project, a nonprofit foundation committed to the liberation of the Black descendant community through the dismantling of inequitable and discriminatory economic, environmental, and social systems inherent in the violent legacies of slavery. As part of this work, Dr. Banner is on the front lines of the struggle against environmental racism in the form of petrochemical plants along Louisiana’s River Road, otherwise known as “Cancer Alley.” After earning a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University, she taught business communications, marketing, and entrepreneurship at the university level where she advanced to Chair of the Management program. Joy is a proud member of the local descendant community with rooted ancestry that can be traced to the 18th century. She also served as the Director of Communications of Whitney Plantation, the only plantation museum in Louisiana that centers the lives of the enslaved, and is a descendant of those enslaved at Whitney Plantation. Joy has used her 20+ years in heritage and tourism to champion the preservation of Black historic sites, heritage, and communities. Dr. Banner is the 2023 recipient of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Emerging Leader Award.