The founder and Executive Director Joe Wojcik breathed life into the Foundation through his passion to make a difference. He is a powerful motivational speaker, delivering messages of hope and possibility. He shares profound insights, perspectives and education through seminars and keynote speaking engagements. A victim of bullying in his youth, Joe’s life journey drew him into substance abuse as a young man. A debilitating automobile accident in his early thirties became a life-altering experience. Joe persevered through a seventeen year healing process that included a physical, psychological and spiritual transformation.
Drawing upon his experiences, Joe today addresses bullying and its long-term effects, the power of nurturing in parenthood, overcoming adversity, and fulfilling purpose through his Joe the Biker persona. His messages are delivered with an exuberance that can only be found in someone who has learned to live life to the fullest.
A foster parent to more than 100 teens over a 14-year period, Joe is dedicated to the welfare of young people. Concerned with the impact of substance abuse on today’s youth, he developed and has presented educational sessions to local colleges including Bentley College and North Adams School for Liberal Arts. He served on the Board of Directors of M.A.D.D. and is accredited as a victim’s advocate. Joe partnered with the manager of the Foster Care Unit of the Massachusetts based Tri-County Youth Center to develop an educational session around effective foster parenting as part of the foster parent certification process. Today he addresses audiences on the long-term impact of bullying and how to prevent it.
Joe is the author of Yubbie: The Fall and Rise of an Everyday Joe (October 2008),
Call Me Yubbie (June 2009), and the creator of a workbook series and DVD presentation for schools,
teachers, parents, and children called Say NO To Bullying Today: Yubbie’s Rules.
Joe has begun a nationwide movement promoting the Say NO To Bullying Today program with his strong conviction that each
child has the right to a good education, to be protected in their schools, and to be protected from the malicious and destructive forces of bullying.
The most effective strategy to eliminate bullying is to create an atmosphere of intolerance for it among children armed with practical tools for dealing with it, and strengthened by an environment of open communication and proactive response from parents and educators.
- Joe Wojcik
