A Celebration of Black History Month

James Joyce III is a civil rights activist and founder of Coffee with a Black Guy. Into its fourth year, CWABG serves as safe place for interactive, community conversations about a variety of issues from the perspective of a black man. It's been a growing, grassroots effort hosted by Joyce and his team to help put an end to racism. Simply put: Coffee. Connection. Conversation. For these efforts and more, the Ventura County branch of the NAACP awarded Joyce with their 2018 Distinguished Citizen Award. It's bestowed upon an individual whose groundbreaking work increases understanding and awareness of racial and social issues. Forbes also featured Joyce and his work with CWABG in a piece published during the Covid-19 outbreak. Joyce was recognized for his outstanding leadership in aiding anti-racist conversations even during a worldwide pandemic. He served as a guest speaker for the NAACP chapter of Ventura County during their solidarity rally for George Floyd. 

Joyce serves as District Director for State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (who represents nearly 1 million constituents within the 19th Senate District of California) and has served on various advisory boards in the area including Impact Hub Santa Barbara, the Ventura County Leadership Academy, and the Santa Barbara Young Black Professionals.

Joyce is also on the board for the Common Table Foundation (formerly the Lou's and Walter Capps Project), the California Association of Marriage & Family Therapist Education Foundation, as well as the national board for Student African American Brotherhood (SAAB), where he helped found the collegiate chapter while a student-athlete at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.

Prior to working in the public service sector, Joyce, a Maryland-native, served as a newspaper journalist in several diverse communities across the country covering a variety of subjects; from education to crime, local politics, features and more. An award-winning journalist, Joyce is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and currently serves with the Xi Iota Lambda Chapter, seated in Camarillo, CA.