Ms. Joines is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in psychology and the North Carolina Central Evening Program School of Law (J.D. 2002). She is a native of Chapel Hill and for thirty years worked as the Administrator and Co-Director of the Southeast Institute for Group and Family Therapy, a non-profit post-graduate educational institute for mental health professionals in Chapel Hill. She is a Certified District Court Mediator and has performed pro bono work for the VITA Program (filing tax returns for indigents) and for the Center for Death Penalty Litigation. She has also served as an Executive Board Member for the North Carolinians against Gun Violence Education Fund and is an Elder in the Presbyterian Church, USA.