A Legacy of Joy, Impact, and Progress with Orlena Nwokah Blanchard

In this episode of the Brilliance Beyond Borders podcast, I speak with Orlena Nwokah Blanchard, business leader, media executive, and multicultural marketing expert with over 25 years of experience building value for Fortune 500 companies and start-ups.

Orlena is President and COO of JOY Collective, an award-winning marketing and creative agency based in Washington DC. Orlena is JOY’s chief strategist and cultural expert and has helped reframe marketing with cultural intelligence for JOY’s diverse portfolio of clients, including the United States Naval Academy, OWN, Weight Watchers, Tory Burch, Diageo, Unilever, Dove, SheaMoisture, and more.

Orlena is also a bilingual citizen of four countries.

Listen to this episode to hear how Orlena is creating a legacy of joy, impact, and progress by spearheading the CROWN Act. The CROWN Act, which stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair”, is a law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination in achieving employment and educational opportunities. Here are a couple of gems from the episode:

1. Build a Strong Coalition

   • As part of the work with Dove, JOY formed the CROWN Coalition, which is a collective impact model with major organizations and institutions that came together to create social change. The coalition includes more than 70 different nongovernmental organizations around the country and is driving change as it relates to Black women and beauty.

1. Consider What Drives You

   • Orlena feels a sense of obligation to her ancestors, including making progress for the next generation. Her purpose is to leverage her gifts, blessings, and talents to make the world a better place for her people.

What drives YOU?

Get ALL the gems about Orlena, JOY Collective, and the CROWN Coalition by listening to the Brilliance Beyond Borders Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, or my website!