Dr. R. Joy Azikiwe-Oyeyemi
Dr. R. Joy Azikiwe-Oyeyemi is the Chief Human Resources Officer at City Year. With over 15 years of experience in strategic HR leadership, Joy has championed workforce planning, organizational redesign, and inclusive culture building in both nonprofit and higher education sectors. She brings a deep belief in the power of people strategy to drive mission impact and has built a career helping organizations align talent with purpose. A dedicated educator as well, Joy teaches human resources and organizational behavior as an adjunct professor and is passionate about developing the next generation of leaders.
Before joining City Year, Joy served for eight years at the University of Pennsylvania as Chief of Staff and Executive Director of HR, where she directed cross-functional teams, developed the University’s first Leadership Assimilation Program, and led pandemic response and labor relations strategy for over 10,000 employees. She also played a pivotal role in Penn’s Workday implementation and equity-based hiring reforms that drove a 40% increase in diverse hires.
Her earlier HR leadership experience spans healthcare and senior living systems, including Genesis HealthCare and HCR-ManorCare, where she built and scaled employee and labor relations infrastructure across dozens of states and led multi-site HR teams during periods of high operational demand.
Joy holds a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership from Thomas Jefferson University, a Master’s in Business and Human Resources Management from the University of Phoenix, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Hofstra University. She is certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and a SHRM-Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP).
Her leadership and impact have been recognized with multiple honors, including the 2025 HR Person of the Year Nominee-Delaware Valley, 2022 Top 100 Women Leaders in New Jersey award, the 2021 Penn Models of Excellence Award for COVID-19 crisis response, and the 2019 HR Person of the Year – Delaware Valley.
From public institutions to national nonprofits, Joy has consistently delivered transformational HR leadership rooted in strategy, compassion, and results. She brings to every role a deep commitment to equity, workforce resilience, and building environments where people and organizations thrive.
