Johnston Now Honors: Servant of Johnston Community College earns Spirit of the County Award

By Randy Capps

In another life, Joy Callahan might have become a teacher, perhaps serving in Lenoir County, where she grew up.

As often happens, life had other plans for her.

Today, she’s the Executive Director of the Johnston Community College Foundation, supporting the institution that she’s served in several capacities since 1999.

That alone justifies her selection as the 2024 Johnston Now Honors Spirit of the County Award winner, but it runs a little deeper.

She grew up in Kinston, then went to Peace College and East Carolina, and decided to be a teacher.

“I taught high school for two years in Manteo,” she said. “I lived in Kill Devil Hills and taught high school. And I was like, ‘I need to do something else.’ I loved the teaching, just not all the other mess you had to deal with.”

She wound up at N.C. State, working in cooperative education helping students find work in their chosen fields. 

She and her husband, Jon, decided to move to a place with a little more land, so they bought a home in the Cleveland Community in 1998.

“I commuted back and forth a little bit and there was just too much turnover at our office, and I was not happy,” she said. “So I started looking for a job and ended up working at (Johnston Community College) as their director of industry training.” 

She began working with local businesses, including Novo Nordisk and Grifols (formerly Bayer), and the idea of a workforce development center was born. 

“I was really involved with helping to put that plan together and make that work,” she said. “We built it in 2004 and moved into it in 2005.”

As Dean of Economic and Workforce Development, Callahan was charged with leading the Center’s efforts to provide training for existing workers for the county’s industry partners and helping to furnish new talent as well.

“The great thing about what we did there is that we were completely responsive to everything they asked us to do,” she said. “Train their incumbent workforce, start a pipeline of talent. … We've put bio work in every high school, so they can start there. And then when they walk across the stage and get their diploma, they have their bio work certificate.”

She retired from the college in 2021, started her own consulting company, Callahan Connections, and spent some time working with Johnston County Economic Development.

Then, JCC came calling again.

“Twyla (Wells, past director of the foundation) was getting ready to retire, and they wanted somebody to come and just kind of carry on a little bit,” she said. “Somebody that knew JCC and knew people in the county. So, I went in as an interim for a little while, and then they just kind of talked me into staying.” 

The foundation is charged with raising money for the college and its missions, which is pretty far away from the career path she imagined for herself when her professional journey began.

“It’s very different because when I was in workforce development,” she said. “I didn't have a lot of direct contact with students, and now I have a lot more. I see a lot of need in our community.

“There's just a lot of people that need help and education, and help to get that tuition paid for, but also food and clothing. It's just amazing what I have heard and seen in my last year being here, doing this particular job. So, I think God puts you in a place that you're supposed to be for a reason. And that's probably one of my reasons — to help some of these people.”

Along the way, she and Jon raised two daughters, Kessler and Mattie, and made Johnston County her adopted home.

She’s been able to scratch that teaching itch every now and then, too.

“I went through Leadership Johnston in 2002,” she said. “As a result of that, we started something called Junior Leadership Johnston, and I oversaw that for 16 years. For 16 summers we had a different group of high school juniors. Until COVID, and then it just kind of fizzled. … But it got me to be able to enjoy the kids again.”

Callahan and her family are involved with Ameila Christian Church in Clayton, and she’s also a member of the Central Johnston Rotary Club.

“That's such a good group of people,” she said. “They're just so civic minded and all of them just want to give.”

The same has been true for Callahan in her journey.

“You know, I drive through the college and I look at things and I'm like, ‘wow, I had a part in that, I had a part in that and it's really cool,” she said. “You know, because you don't get a lot of pats on the back and in state government and education especially. So when I retired, I wrote a speech, and just going back over the years and realizing what I have accomplished, I was, like, ‘wow, I did do some things.’ 

“My goal here now is to live life every day like it's my last day and enjoy it. (I want to) bolster people and make sure that everybody that needs a voice has a voice, and that they get what they need. My heart breaks for people that don't have a relationship with God, and don't feel like they have any hope. 

So, I've got a sign on my door in my office that says ‘hope.’ And that's a lot of what we are at JCC. We are hope for people that may not have thought they could do it. And they come in and they can. They get that education and they get out and get those better jobs. So it's been a blessing of just being able to do the things that I've been able to do.”

Thank you to HomeMasters Pest Control for sponsoring this award.