Joy Gursky

She/Her

Having studied abroad in Dakar, Senegal, and Paris, France as an undergraduate student, Joy Gursky is passionate about promoting cross-cultural understanding and empowering young people to learn from the global community. Joy has supported measures related to higher education in a number of ways, including personally raising over $50,000 for student resources through cold calling at her undergraduate institution, launching the first alumni engagement program at a community college, and helping to recruit over 1,000 students for study abroad programs at her alma mater. She arrived at the University of Maryland after two years of teaching English to middle schoolers on the outskirts of Paris, France. Joy is a first-generation college student and a Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship alumna. She received her B.A. in global studies and French from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Although she misses living on the beach, she is excited to continue expanding access to global learning opportunities for all.