Joanna Cawley joined Carnegie Hill Neighbors, as Executive Director in 2016. CHN is a non-profit neighborhood organization, focused on landmarks and preservation, and advocacy work that addresses quality of life concerns in this historic enclave on New York’s upper east side.

Joanna is a native New Yorker and attended Pratt Institute graduating cum laude with a fine arts degree in painting and ceramics. While working on her master’s thesis at the Cooper Hewitt/Parsons, Joanna exhibited her work extensively, worked in commercial fine art studios until she settled down to start a family. 

In 2006, Joanna opened a bespoke porcelains studio in midtown Manhattan where she created custom dinner wares, ran personal growth/discovery workshops, led lecture series and taught studio art classes for a range of ages, working mainly with young women and girls.