Joyce Sheperd is currently the Atlanta city council member representing District 12. She was first elected in 2004 and has served five terms. She is chair of the Public Safety committee and a member of the City Utilities, Finance Executive and Community Development committees.

Joyce was one of the first female line workers in the telecommunications industry in the late 1970s. She retired from Avaya Communications and Communications Workers of America (CWA) union "with 31 years of service as one of the few women serving as a telecommunications engineer."

Joyce was born and raised in Atlanta, where her family has lived for five generations. She is an ex-officio board member on the board of directors for the Fort McPherson Implementing Local Redevelopment Authority. She lives in the Capitol View Manor neighborhood.