Joia Jefferson Nuri, PCC

Joia Jefferson Nuri, PCC is a certified Executive Leadership and Public Speaking coach, specializing in helping women step into their full potential. Through her company, In The Public Eye Coaching, Joia uses positive psychology to guide clients from their "zone of excellence" to their "zone of genius™," breaking through self-imposed limits to reach new levels of leadership and impact.

Since 2001, she has coached leaders at Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, Johns Hopkins University, the Open Society Foundation, and FDIC. Her clients range from CEO, senior executives rising to CEO roles to professionals launching successful businesses. Joia also shares her expertise as a guest speaker at Georgetown University’s Beeck Center.

Joia’s career began as a trailblazer in broadcast news, becoming the first African-American women to serve as Technical Director for CBS Evening News and Face the Nation, and one of the first women engineers at NBC News. She later led global human rights communications for icons like Harry Belafonte and Danny Glover, gaining firsthand insight into how storytelling drives influence and change.

She has written congressional testimonies, spoken before Congress on issues affecting Haitian children, and crafted speeches for Ivy League commencements and TEDx events—including delivering her own talk, "A Reimagined Fourth State."

A respected voice in leadership and media, Joia is a contributor to The Price of Business, a columnist for Daily Mail USA, and the host of the acclaimed podcast Unshackled Leadership: A Lantern for Black Women.

When she’s not coaching or speaking, Joia enjoys swimming, Yin Yoga, and indulging in her favorite treat—chocolate chip cookies.