SOURCE OF WEALTH: Radio Host
FUNDING AREAS: Education & Youth (HBCUs)
OVERVIEW: Tom Joyner conducts philanthropy through the Tom Joyner Foundation, which seeks to provide programming initiatives and partnerships in support of historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) and its communities.
BACKGROUND: Tom Joyner graduated from Tuskegee Institute with a sociology degree. He started in local radio in Alabama. For nearly a decade, Joyner commuted between Chicago and Dallas for a morning and afternoon show, earning the nicknames “The Fly Jock” and “The Hardest Working Man in Radio.” In 1994, Joyner was signed by ABC Radio Networks to host a nationally syndicated program, The Tom Joyner Morning Show. He retired from his morning show in December 2019.
ISSUES:
EDUCATION & YOUTH: Tom Joyner Foundation aims to provide programming that affords diverse academic opportunities to students wanting and/or attending HBCUs “regardless of social or economic status and means.” It runs several scholarship programs, including the Hercules Scholarship, $1,500 scholarship which bears Joyner’s late father’s name. Recent scholarships have gone to students attending Benedict College in South Carolina, Meharry Medical College in Tennessee, Morehouse School of Medicine, Howard University, and Wiley College in Texas. The Foundation has provided scholarships to more than 31,000 students, and, in excess of $66 million has been raised to support HBCUs since 1998.
LOOKING FORWARD: Expect Tom Joyner’s work with HBCUs to continue. The foundation states that its vision for HBCUs is to “continue to invest in America’s future through education.”
CONTACT:
Tom Joyner Foundation
13760 Noel Road Suite 750
Dallas, TX 75240
