JaVon L. Townsend is a narrative artist whose work centers love, joy, and connection. She is a storyteller who uses words and images to celebrate the full humanity of people with marginalized identities. Working across media, she seeks to bridge the personal with the universal. 

Growing up in a multigenerational household and in communities with people from all over the world helped shape Townsend’s appreciation for difference and her ability to find commonalities in human experiences. With a strong belief that the stories we tell ourselves and each other shape our reality, Townsend desires to create narratives that reflect the beauty of people who have historically been misrepresented and ignored by dominant cultures.  Formally trained as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Townsend approaches her work from the lens of understanding and appreciating people within their specific contexts. 

Before entering the field of Social Work, she completed a BA in International Languages and Cultures at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Townsend has demonstrated ingenuity and resourcefulness in developing and executing creative approaches to working with diverse groups of people as an Albert Schweitzer Fellow in Baltimore City, MD and as a J. William Fulbright Research Program alumna in Accra, Ghana.