JoyBelle Phelan is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Unbound Authors, a Colorado-based nonprofit that supports incarcerated writers through mentorship, creative writing labs, and publishing opportunities. A system-impacted leader, JoyBelle discovered the transformative power of storytelling during her own incarceration, sparking a lifelong commitment to education and advocacy.
JoyBelle’s scholarly contributions include co-authoring “Swapping Policing for Possibility: Reframing Community Corrections” in Beyond Autoethnography: Lived Experience Criminology (Routledge Press, forthcoming 2025). She has been recognized with the 2023 Solutions Journalism Award, the 2023 Dream Justice Cohort graduation, and the 2024 Realness Project Exemplar Award for her work uplifting system-impacted voices.
JoyBelle has presented at national conferences, including TEDx San Quentin, the Conference on College Composition and Communication, and the ALA Convening on Prison Librarianship. She also serves on the Arapahoe County Community Corrections Board and is an Associate Producer for Colorado Radio for Justice, reflecting her dedication to bridging academic, community, and media spaces.
In her role with CU Denver’s Prison Education Program, JoyBelle is committed to fostering inclusive and creative learning environments that honor the experiences and knowledge of incarcerated students. She believes that education and storytelling are essential tools for healing, agency, and change.