Joyce D. Acquah holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work and Sociology, Master of Arts in Development Studies both from University of Ghana, and a Master of Philosophy in Peace and Conflict Transformation from University of Tromso, Norway. Prior to her PhD studies, she worked for five years as a Research Fellow at the Institute for Development Studies, University of Cape Coast, Ghana.

Before joining University of Cape Coast, Joyce worked for two years as a District Facilitator with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Funded Community School Alliances Project where she mobilized community support through various community mobilization tools like Participatory Learning and Action, community drama, workshops and public forums to support good governance and improve enrollment in primary education. Between July to October 2003, she was selected to undertake research with a team of seven fresh graduates in the context of an interdisciplinary project funded by Tropenbos International (TBI) and supervised by lecturers of the Institute of Natural Resources and TBI staff. Topic: The Potential and Constraints of Agro-forestry in the Forest Fringe Communities of the Asunafo District-Ghana. From August 2011 to January 2012 she was the National Evaluation Consultant for UNIDO/UNHCR/FAO project: “Assistance to refugees of the UNHCR settlement in Buduburam and Krisan for their repatriation, local integration and resettlement through micro and small scale enterprises development in Ghana”

Joyce has won a number of meritorious leadership awards, scholarships and research grants. In 2004, she was one of the twelve Ghanaian youth selected to represent Ghana under the British Council Interaction Leadership program. She won a two-year scholarship from the Norwegian Government under the Quota Scholarship Program. She has also won awards like: thesis grant from the Center for Environment and Development, University of Tromso, Norway, and a Scholarship from the Canadian Bureau for International Education under the CIDA Youth Education Awards-Africa. Additionally, she has been a resident Study Grant Holder at the Nordic Africa Institute, Sweden.

She is a member of the Ghana Association of Social Workers (national executive member from 2004-2006), a fellow of the British Council Interaction Leadership Group, and member of the Gender Violence Survival Support Network, Ghana. Joyce speaks Twi, Krobo and English.

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