Born in Springfield and raised in Chicopee, Joel is the son of two teenage parents. His Dad was a Union worker and military veteran, serving in both the U.S. Army and Air Force and his Mom a medical assistant. 

He attended Chicopee Public Schools and graduated from Chicopee Comprehensive High School where he served as Class President in 2010. Then he attended Springfield Technical Community College before joining the Chicopee Mayor’s Office where he worked as a Special Projects Manager interfacing with every aspect of city government from 2014-2017.

While working in the Mayor’s Office, Joel met a young candidate and former aide to President Barack Obama named Eric Lesser. He and Joel developed a close friendship – and after Lesser was re-elected to his second term in 2016, he hired Joel to work in his State Senate office overseeing constituent services. Joel was promoted twice during his tenure in Lesser’s office, first to District Director and then to Deputy Chief of Staff where he was responsible for managing intergovernmental affairs, serving as the liaison between municipal governments and the state government, and coordinating budget requests. 

In 2017, Joel was elected to the Chicopee City Council, and since then, he has been re-elected twice. He currently serves on the Council as the Chairman of the Communications and Claims and Accounts committees. In 2021, he received Business West’s “40 Under 40” award as one of the areas top community leaders.

In 2022, Joel joined the Holyoke Public Schools as a consultant and later as a full time employee working as the Dean of Management and Operations at Dean Technical High School.

He was engaged to his now wife Deanna Rousseau in the Summer of 2020. The couple, who first met as students at Chicopee Comp, live together in their home located in Ward 1 near Bellamy Middle School. They married August 13, 2022 in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts. 

In addition to STCC, Joel is a graduate of Arizona State University and he is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Administration at the University of Miami. An avid sports fan, Joel loves all things Boston, with the exception of his beloved Miami Dolphins football team. His favorite place to be—other than Chicopee—is Cape Cod on a warm summer day.