Joan Marques has reinvented herself from a successful media and social entrepreneur in Suriname, South America, to an innovative "edupreneur" (educational entrepreneur) in California, USA. Her entrepreneurial career spans over four decades, and includes the creation and successful management of companies in Public Relations and Advertising, Import and Export, Real Estate, Media Productions, and a Non-Profit, focused on women's advancement. In the US, she has co-founded the Business Renaissance Institute and the Academy of Spirituality and Professional Excellence (ASPEX), and most recently founded Give and Get Light.
Based on her impressive career and ongoing influence, Dr. Marques was awarded the highest state decoration of her home country, Suriname: Commander (Commandeur) in the Honorary Order of the Yellow Star, in 2015. That same year, she was also awarded the Dr. Nelle Becker-Slaton Pathfinder Award from the Association of Pan-African Doctoral Scholars in Los Angeles, for her exemplary and groundbreaking professional performance. In 2019, she was awarded the Kankantrie Life Time Achievement Award for her accomplishments in Education from the Suriname American Network Inc. in Miami, FL. In 2023, she was awarded the Dora Kirby Award by Woodbury University for her extraordinary commitment to the community. Dr. Marques is a frequent speaker and presenter at academic and professional venues. In 2016, she gave a TEDx-Talk at College of the Canyons in California, titled "An Ancient Path Towards a Better Future," in which she analyzed the Noble Eightfold Path, one of the foundational Buddhist practices, within the realm of contemporary business performance. In recent years she has conducted presentations and workshops on multiple forums, such as at Management, Spirituality and Religion (MSR) research colloquia at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, and a variety of keynote addresses in the US and Suriname. Joan's research interests pertain to Awakened Leadership, Buddhist Psychology in Management, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Workplace Spirituality. Her works have been widely published and cited in both academic and popular venues. She has written more than 150 scholarly articles, which were published in prestigious scholarly journals such as The Journal of Business Ethics, Business and Society, International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, The International Journal of Management Education, Journal of Communication Management, Journal of Management Development, Organization Development Journal, and Human Resource Development Quarterly. Dr. Marques has (co)authored and (co)edited more than 40 books, among which, The Palgrave Handbook of Change and Resilience at Work (Palgrave MacMillan, 2025); GAIN Positive and Mindful Self-Leadership (Springer, 2024),
The Palgrave Handbook of Fulfillment, Wellness, and Personal Growth at Work (Palgrave MacMillan, 2023);
Innovative Leadership in Times of Compelling Changes (Springer, 2022); Exploring Gender at Work (Palgrave, 2021), New Horizons in Positive Leadership and Change (Springer, 2020), and Social Entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility (Springer, 2020). "
The Routledge Companion to Happiness at Work" (2020); "The Routledge Companion to Inclusive Leadership" (2020), "Lead with Heart in Mind" (Springer, 2019), "The Routledge Companion to Management and Workplace Spirituality", "Engaged Leadership: Transforming through Future-Oriented Design" (with Satinder Dhiman - Springer, 2018); "Ethical Leadership, Progress with a Moral Compass" (Routledge, 2017); "Leadership, Finding Balance Between Acceptance and Ambition" (Routledge, 2016); "Leadership Today: Practices for Personal and Professional Performance" (with Satinder Dhiman - Springer, 2016); "Business and Buddhism" (Routledge, 2015); and "Leadership and Mindful Behavior: Action, Wakefulness, and Business" (Palgrave MacMillan, 2014). Joan currently serves as Dean at Woodbury University's School of Business, in Burbank, California, where she works on infusing and nurturing the concept of "Business with a Conscience" into internal and external stakeholders. She is also a Full Professor of Management and teaches business courses related to Leadership, Ethics, Creativity, Social Entrepreneurship, and Organizational Behavior in graduate and undergraduate programs. Joan holds a Ph.D. in Social Sciences (thesis: Buddhist Psychology in Management) from Tilburg University's Oldendorff Graduate School; and an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership (thesis: Workplace Spirituality) from Pepperdine University's Graduate School of Education and Psychology. She also holds an M.B.A. from Woodbury University and a B.Sc. in Business Economics from MOC, Suriname. Additionally, she has completed post-doctoral work at Tulane University's Freeman School of Business. Dr. Marques is a member of the executive committee of the Management, Spirituality and Religion division of the Academy of Management, where she currently serves on the Leadership Track, and serves on the boards of Leadership Burbank and the Burbank Chamber of Commerce.
