Joe Tolbert Jr.

JOE TOLBERT JR.

Joe Tolbert Jr. (he/him, they/them) is an organizer, executive, minister,writer, and commentator whose work and passion lie at the intersection of art, culture, spirituality, and social justice.

In 2023 he was named Waymakers Collective’s first Executive Director, where he builds on the foundational work he laid as the Collective’s founding Program Director, driven by his personal belief that art and community can be a powerful force that can create real change.

A native of Knoxville TN – the state’s 3rd largest city – Joe is proud to represent a wider understanding of what it means to be Appalachian (or “Affrilachian”). Growing up, he explained to Bloomberg in 2022, “You didn’t see Black folks reflected in the larger narrative of who Appalachia was and what the region was said to be.”

After experiencing a personal tragedy far too familiar to Black families everywhere – a loved one being killed by police – Joe found a sense of healing and community through the arts. That now forms his mission with Waymakers towards rebalancing power in philanthropy in what Bloomberg calls a “participatory grantmaking model that puts decision-making in the hands of community members instead of a sole authority who likely knows little about the region.”

Through his company Art at the Intersections, Joe is a sought-after facilitator and cultural strategist who works with communities to help them harness the power of art and culture through the building, implementation and evaluation of cultural strategies. He is also a Mayor-appointed member of the City of Knoxville’s Public Art Committee
As a writer and critic, Joe’s work has appeared in Alternate ROOTS, ArtPlace, Arts.Black, Quiet Lunch, Cross Currents Journal, various exhibition catalogs, and in the book Applied Theater
with Youth: Art, Education, Activism (2021, Routledge Press).