Joy joined the Jacobson Law Group in 2022 after serving as a law clerk for Justice Thissen at the Minnesota Supreme Court. She belongs to the Abenaki people of the Wabanaki Confederacy.
Before attending law school, Joy served communities across the state of Minnesota as a midwife. In addition to providing primary reproductive clinical care, Joy served as president of the Minnesota Council of Professional Midwives and was appointed by the Attorney General to chair the Midwifery Advisory Council to the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice.
Joy advocates for tribal sovereignty, advises on issues of tribal governance and capacity building, and supports tribal and indigenous organizations in relationship to the communities they serve. A large part of Joy’s practice includes litigation and appeals on behalf of tribes in ICWA matters in courts across the country. Joy understands the great responsibility she has been given as an Abenaki woman to carry her values and culture, traditional knowledge and midwifery experience, and excellent legal training and practice into all of the work she is honored to be called into.
University of Arizona College of Law, cum laude, 2021
Indian Law certificate, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program, 2021
Admitted to practice:
Minnesota
Bois Forte Tribal Court
Chitimacha Tribal Court
Fond du Lac Tribal Court
White Earth Tribal Court
Prairie Island Indian Community Tribal Court
Lower Sioux Indian Community Tribal Court