Biography

Joyce Roché is the author of The Empress Has No Clothes…Conquering Self-Doubt to Embrace Success and was President and CEO of Girls Inc., a national nonprofit research, education and advocacy organization, until her retirement in 2010.

Before joining Girls Inc., Ms. Roché served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Carson Products Company and Vice President of Global Marketing at Avon Products, Inc. While at Avon, Ms. Roché broke new ground, becoming Avon’s first African American female vice president, the first African American vice president of marketing, and the company’s first vice president of global marketing.

Ms. Roché has received widespread acclaim for her achievements in the business world: Fortune featured her on its cover; Black Enterprise named Roché one of the “21 Women of Power and Influence in Corporate America” and one of the “40 Most Powerful Black Executives.” Ms. Roché received the Women of Power Legacy Award from Black Enterprise Magazine in 2006, and The Financial Times selected her as an Outstanding Corporate Director in 2014. She received the Distinguished Alumna Award from Columbia University Women in Business and the Presidential Medal of Honor from Dillard University.

In 2013 Ms. Roché published The Empress Has No Clothes…Conquering Self-Doubt to Embrace Success (Berrett-Koehler), a business memoir in which she shares her lifelong struggle with the imposter syndrome and offers advice and coping strategies based on her own experiences and those of other high-achieving leaders.

Ms. Roché is a graduate of Dillard University in New Orleans and holds an MBA from Columbia University. She has successfully completed Stanford University’s Senior Executive Program and holds honorary doctorate degrees from several institutions, including Dillard University, Bryant University, and Old Dominion College. 

She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Macy’s Inc., the Chatham County Hospital Authority, The Savannah Economic Development Authority and The Savannah Trade Center. Ms. Roché previously served on the boards of AT&T Inc., Anheuser-Busch Companies, May Department Stores, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc., Tupperware Brands Corporation and Girls Incorporated.

Ms. Roché is the former Vice Chair of the board of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges and served as Chair of the Board of Trustees for Dillard University, where she is now Trustee Emerita.