Joy has always been an avid reader. She graduated from the University of Otago with degrees in microbiology and Russian, after which she worked in translation, research, market analysis, writing and editing in New Zealand and the UK.

Later, with young children, she became involved in playgroups, toy library and kindergarten committees, where she took on grant application, book and toy buying, and treasurer roles. She subsequently balanced part-time work at Wellington City Libraries with translation, editing and writing projects.

In 2014 she joined the New Zealand Book Council (now Read New Zealand Te Pou Muramura). In 2015 she became the administrator for the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, and in 2016 she began running the Hell Reading Challenge. She has worked on both programmes ever since.

One of her key aims has been to find more ways to get tamariki and rangatahi reading and engaged with the award-winning New Zealand books. The awards programme now includes opportunities for students to review books for the school judging panels, make videos for the Back-a-Book competition, or attend Books Alive events featuring finalist authors and illustrators.

Joy also manages the Hell Reading Challenge alongside the awards. There are now approximately 600 schools and 200 public libraries involved, and since 2022 she has managed Hell’s Great New Zealand Book Trip in association with the Reading Challenge, and has been heavily involved in organising Book Trip online events featuring awards finalists and winners.