Born in Bishop Auckland, Joy is the only daughter of the late Joseph Nolan, a former foreman and musician, and Julie Nolan, a regional account manager for British Gas.

Educated at Tudhoe Grange Comprehensive School (Spennymoor), Joy went on to study at New College Durham, where she was awarded a Diploma in Community and Social Studies and a BA (Hons) in Management and Administration. She later pursued her Masters at the University of Leicester (Scarman Centre), earning an MSc in Security and Crime Risk Management at went on to study for her MBA at Durham University Business School.

Joy moved to Germany in 1984 and stayed for seven years, during which time she worked for an Ango German Company and HM Forces. She returned to the UK in 1991 to have her first child while her husband was serving in the first Gulf War.  Joy then continued her career in the public sector, working for Durham Constabulary, Sedgefield Borough Council, Middlesbrough Council, County Durham, and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, where she served as Head of Service and Area Manager for Community Safety. She later took up the position of National Account Manager, working for Serco on behalf of the Cabinet Office’s Emergency Planning College.

Joy has lived in Ferryhill, Fishburn, Binchester Moor, Sedgefield and Bishop Auckland.

Joy joined the Labour Party in 1995 and was elected to Durham County Council in 2013, representing Bishop Auckland Town Ward. She was appointed to the Cabinet in 2015, where she held the Safer Communities Portfolio and represented the Council on the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Safer and Stronger Communities Board.

She was re-elected as a County Councillor and a Town Councillor in 2017 and was appointed to lead Durham County Council’s Transformation Programme. In 2019, this portfolio was expanded to include Culture and Tourism and went on to represent the Council on the National (LGA) Innovation and Improvement Board and chaired the North East Regional Prevent (Counter Terrorism) Forum. Joy was elected as Bishop Auckland’s Mayor in 2019.

Following the untimely death of Ron Hogg CBE, Joy was selected by the Labour Party to stand as their candidate for Durham’s Police and Crime Commissioner elections that were due to be held on May 7, 2020. Due to the Coronavirus, these elections were postponed until May 2021 She was elected to serve a three-year term as Police and Crime Commissioner.

Joy is married to Brian, a retired Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer, and has two children, Faye and Jack, and two stepchildren, Lee and Stephanie.