Richmond-based baker Joye Moore semifinalist for 2024 Black Ambition Prize

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Richmond-based baker is in the running for the 2024 Black Ambition Prize , an award recognizing Black entrepreneurs.

Black Ambition is a nonprofit founded by award-winning music producer and Virginia native Pharrell Williams which invests in small businesses started by Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs. The Black Ambition Prize recognizes several of these entrepreneurs every year and provides them with cash and investments.

Richmond-based baker Joye B. Moore has been baking and selling pies from recipes passed down over six generations since 2019. According to her website , Moore was homeless between the ages of 14 and 17 and went on to work for a nonprofit running after-school programs for Richmond Public Schools middle schoolers before starting her business, Joyebells.

Since starting Joyebells in 2019, Moore has appeared on the Today Show and has appeared in Southern Living Magazine, Virginia Living Magazine, the Washington Post and several other publications.

Moore’s pies have been recognized with several awards over the years, including the American Pie Council’s Best Peach Pie in the Country in 2023, and are sold at nearly 2,000 retail stores across the United States.

As one of 250 semifinalists for the Black Ambition Prize, Moore will participate in a three-month program which will provide her with connections and tools to develop her business before the cash prizes are announced.

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