In this luminous and energizing conversation, Dr. Joyce Senior shares her journey from Costa Rica to Oregon and from nutritionist to nonprofit co-founder, program manager, and consultant. She reflects on living her core values—love, service, well-being, and growth—while navigating what it means to be an Afro-Latina leader in U.S. public health. Whether she's hosting living room dance parties, translating health materials, or co-creating culturally centered spaces like My Hair, My Health, Dr. Senior embodies public health rooted in joy, justice, and intentional legacy.

Meet Dr. Joyce Senior

Dr. Joyce Senior is an Afro Latina, born and raised in Costa Rica. She is an energetic professional known for managing public health nutrition and health equity programs. As a program manager at Oregon State University, she has led the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program since 2017 and was a member of the SNAP-Ed state leadership team since 2021.

She is the founder of Dr. J Senior Consulting LLC, providing English and Spanish translation and cultural competency consulting to various sectors including higher education and nonprofits. In 2021, she co-founded My Hair My Health PDX, a health and wellness nonprofit supporting Black women and their families in Oregon.

Dr. Senior earned her Ph.D. in Food Technology from Clemson University in 2015 and a PMP® certification from the Project Management Institute in 2022. She aims to leave a positive legacy, guided by her core values of love, service, wellbeing and growth.

Listen To This Episode of The Courageous Public Health Podcast

Conversation Highlights

• Living Her Core Values — Dr. Senior names love, service, well-being, and growth as her foundational values—and she actively centers them in both her professional and personal life.
• Courage to Begin Again — She shares the courageous journey of leaving Costa Rica to pursue graduate school in the U.S. and carving out a life rooted in service and purpose.
• Creating Her Own Table — Dr. Senior describes co-founding My Hair, My Health, a wellness initiative for Black women that blends beauty, culture, and community healing.
• Reclaiming Her Power — From founding her own consulting business to challenging Eurocentric beauty standards, Dr. Senior shows how Afro-Latina women are reshaping public health.
• Vision for the Future — She calls for interdisciplinary, community-driven public health and urges listeners to invest in education, challenge false divisions, and build lasting legacy.

"As an Afro-Latina, I am constantly redefining beauty—not by European standards, but by the fullness of who I am." — Dr. Joyce Senior

Stay In Touch:

Dr. Joyce Senior on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjoyce-senior/

www.drjseniorconsulting.com

www.myhairmyhealthpdx.org

Email Dr. Kristi McClamroch - [email protected]

Dr. Kristi McClamroch on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristi-mcclamroch/

www.CourageousPublicHealth.com

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