Photos by Courtney Jones
“Live out your passion.”
Javona Braxton works full-time as a diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging practitioner. She primarily works for Citrix, a cloud computing and virtualization technology company based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. “I shape the future workforce and mindsets for organizations through strategic development and programming,” she explains. She also is the co-founder of Amazin’ Graze, a food lifestyle collaborative. She co-founded the business with Cocoa Paris. “Our focus as food stylists is on creating unique food experiences, through grazing, charcuterie, entertainment, and education,” Javona says.
Javona is a UVA alumna and a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She continues to be a part of the UVA community. She’s been a member of the Jefferson Scholars Regional Selection Committee and chairs the UVA’s Black Alumni Weekend. She sits on the Board of Directors for the Ridley Scholarship Program at UVA and is the current scholarship chair. She also is an appointee to the UVA President’s African-American Alumni Council. In Richmond, Virginia, she is a trustee at The Steward School and a member of the Board of Directors for Partnership for the Future.
Working for Citrix, Javona is creating several programs for the companies to improve inclusion internally. “These programs will advance their success in creating more authentic and sustainable employee experiences,” she says. With a year of operating Amazin’ Graze under her belt, Javona is figuring out how to grow the business within the pandemic. “We all thought we would be out of the limited interaction phase with the impacts of COVID,” she comments. This past fall, Amazin’ Graze expanded to custom education classes and holiday packages that include home grazing tables. This year, Javona will be launching her consultancy business. She will continue to do her diversity and inclusion work while helping with college access and early career preparation. Javona is appreciative of the opportunity to do what she loves. “I am lucky that I get to live out my two passions,” she says.
To learn more about Javona Braxton, follow her on LinkedIn. To learn more about Amazin’ Graze, visit their website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
