Joanne was first introduced to the magical world of theatre when she was 6, stuck in the lighting booth of Victoria Theatre while watching her mum bustle about on stage with students, working on their annual Drama Festival. Naturally, she progressed to being a part of theatre herself, as a student acting in school plays and musicals, and studying theatre as an A Level subject at Victoria Junior College (VJC). She went on to majoring in theatre at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and obtaining her Masters in Creative Arts (Theatre) at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Upon graduation, Joanne taught A level Theatre Studies and Drama at VJC for 8 years, and was part of the committee that revamped the A Level Theatre syllabus.

Over the next 8 years, Joanne was a theatre consultant at St Anthony’s Convent Secondary, where she helped train the teachers for the O level drama syllabus, taught script analysis at LaSalle College of the Arts (Technical Theatre Department), lectured at National Institute of Education (NIE) (Theatre Department) and taught International Baccalaureate Drama at Anglo-Chinese School (Independent). She also conducted an array of script-writing and drama courses at various schools.

Besides teaching theatre, Joanne is also passionate about using theatre for social good. She believes in marrying her twin loves of theatre and cancer advocacy work and has produced a variety of shows - the most memorable being Brave Maeve - The Musical in 2013, which raised a significant sum of money for Children’s Cancer Foundation and Viva Foundation for Children with Cancer. Besides being an active fundraiser and volunteer, Joanne is also the author of Brave Maeve, a children’s book about cancer, which has been translated and distributed to more than 13 different countries.