Joan Harrison attended Hunter College, and Université Laval, Quebec, Canada.  She is a public relations and communications consultant who has worked throughout the US and Europe. In 1983, Joan began working as a press officer at the United Nations. She subsequently owned her own public relations firm which specialized in marketing European goods to the U.S.  She is presently the principal of Joan Harrison Public Relations, serving a variety of businesses and nonprofit organizations.  Joan is a board member of the community dialogue and performance project, Staten Island OutLOUD, and a member of the collections committee of the Staten Island Historical Society.  She is married to David Ng and has two teenage daughters, Isla and Esmé.