Founder, Consent Awareness Network
It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Joyce M. Short, founder of the Consent Awareness Network (CAN), a pioneering advocate, trailblazer, author, educator, expert witness, and tireless champion of justice.
Joyce was a formidable woman of extraordinary talent, intellect, and determination. Nearly two decades ago, she embarked on a mission that would become her life’s work: transforming how society and the law understand, define, and address consent.
What began as a grassroots effort grew – through years of continuous challenges and relentless advocacy – into a movement for meaningful legal and cultural reform. Joyce understood that the absence of a clearly defined legal standard for consent created dangerous loopholes in our laws, too often placing scrutiny on the behavior of victims rather than the conduct of offenders.
Through her tenacity, scholarship, and unwavering commitment, Joyce helped reshape the international conversation surrounding consent, challenging deeply entrenched attitudes of victim-blaming and shaming while advancing a legal framework focused on the actions and influence of those who violate another person’s bodily autonomy.
Today, the Consent Awareness Network stands at the forefront of efforts to establish a clear, consistent, and enforceable legal standard for consent. That progress is a testament to Joyce’s vision and her refusal to accept that longstanding injustices must remain unchanged.
A Lifetime of Breaking Barriers
Long before founding CAN, Joyce was already making history.
She broke through the glass ceiling on Wall Street as the first woman hired as a bond trader by the prestigious investment bank Salomon Brothers. Entering the fiercely competitive, male-dominated world of corporate bond trading, Joyce helped pave the way for generations of women in finance. She subsequently served as Global Director of Faculty at the New York Institute of Finance, further establishing herself as a leader in financial education.
Her commitment to human potential and empowerment extended well beyond the corporate world. For more than 30 years, Joyce managed free youth tennis programs throughout New York City and provided life-skills education through New York Junior Tennis & Learning (NYJTL), helping countless young people develop confidence, discipline, and the tools to succeed.
In recognition of her exceptional community leadership and legislative advocacy, Joyce was honored as a Woman of Distinction by the New York State Assembly.
A Visionary Voice for Consent Law Reform
Joyce authored several books, including her groundbreaking work, Your Consent: The Key to Conquering Sexual Assault, an examination of the critical need to establish a meaningful legal definition of consent.
Central to her scholarship was the principle that consent must constitute #FGKIA: Freely Given, Knowledgeable Informed Agreement by a Person with the Capacity to Reason.
This standard became the foundation of CAN’s mission and its efforts to codify consent in penal codes across the country and around the world.
Joyce’s extensive research, scholarship, and legislative activism were instrumental in introducing consent-standard legislation in New York, Arkansas, and Pennsylvania, as well as at the federal level through the National Defense Authorization Act.
She recognized that meaningful reform required more than raising awareness. It demanded changes to the laws themselves, ensuring that the right to bodily autonomy and personal agency would be protected by clear, enforceable legal standards.
A Legacy That Will Endure
In a recent conversation about the future of her work, Joyce reflected on the life of suffragist Susan B. Anthony, who died 14 years before the ratification of the 19th Amendment secured women’s constitutional right to vote.
Anthony, contemplating a victory she knew she might never witness, famously declared:
“It will come, but I shall not see it…it is inevitable.”
Joyce understood the profound significance of those words. She knew that the pursuit of justice often extends beyond a single lifetime, and that those who initiate transformative change may not live to see its ultimate realization. Yet she remained steadfast in her belief that the foundation she had built would sustain the movement long after her passing.
Her life’s work was rooted in a simple but powerful conviction: Consent must be defined in law, and every individual deserves the protection that a meaningful legal standard provides.
Joyce leaves behind far more than an organization. She leaves a movement, a body of scholarship, a legislative blueprint for reform, and a legacy of courage and determination that will continue to inspire those who carry her work forward.
Continuing Joyce's Mission
In accordance with Joyce’s wishes, her Chief of Staff, Nina Lucas, will assume leadership of the Consent Awareness Network as its Executive Director.
Under Nina’s leadership, CAN will continue building upon the foundation Joyce established, advancing consent legislation, expanding public awareness, and working toward the day when a meaningful definition of consent is codified in penal codes throughout the United States.
While we mourn the loss of an extraordinary woman, we remain resolute in our commitment to fulfilling her vision. Joyce will not see the full realization of her life’s work, but the movement she built will carry it forward. Her voice, her courage, and her unwavering pursuit of justice will endure.
The work continues. The mission endures. Joyce’s legacy lives on.
In lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor Joyce’s memory are invited to support the work she devoted her life to advancing through a donation to the Consent Awareness Network: Donate in Memory of Joyce M. Short
