Great Graduate: Kiyannah Joyner

Kiyannah Joyner earned her way from foster care to McGuireWoods, turning setbacks into momentum at every step.

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The movers arrived early. As strangers packed up her life, Kiyannah Joyner sat wearing a McGuireWoods baseball cap and reflected on a journey defined by persistence. From foster care to one of the nation’s largest law firms, she has fought for every step—and is quick to note that the distance between those two points is anything but straight.

“Sometimes I pinch myself,” she said. “I don’t think it’s real. Can you believe my law firm is paying for my move?” On May 4, Joyner joined McGuireWoods LLP in Pittsburgh as an associate in the firm’s debt finance practice. After two summers there as a summer associate, she earned a full-time offer.

Her drive took root early, shaped by a family that refused to set limits on her. Born in Newburgh, New York, to a mother struggling with addiction, Joyner entered foster care at 9 months old. She was later adopted by LaSharon and Leslie Joyner of Middletown—already in their 50s with grown children—after they received a late-night call about taking in an infant. Doctors warned of possible developmental delays, but her parents never wavered.

“They watered me,” Joyner said. “I needed love. Then I started talking and reading early. I bloomed like a flower.” She said adoption built her confidence from an early age. “I felt special for being adopted. I thought my parents loved me so much that I actually felt bad for kids who weren’t adopted.”

Joyner excelled in school, skipping second grade. Her parents—a corrections officer and a stay-at-home mother—stretched limited resources to provide opportunities, from piano lessons to a small Christian private school. Growing up, Joyner shared a small bedroom and two bunk beds with three siblings. “My parents never made me feel like we had less than my classmates,” she said. “But I saw what other kids had—their own rooms, TVs. I wanted that security.”

That ambition showed up early. At 14, she found a newspaper listing for a busser job, circled it and told her parents to take her to the interview or she would call a cab herself. She showed up in a church dress with a printed résumé and got the job. Years later, she would send the same résumé to her daughter, Audrey.

She worked through high school and saved enough to buy two cars by 18. When encouraged to attend a four-year university, she chose community college instead. “None of you are paying my student loans,” she recalled telling her parents and counselors. Though it took several years to complete her degree, she finished her coursework in three semesters while working full time at a bank, where she had secured a salaried job at 17. Under a flat tuition model, she took as many as 23 credits in one semester.

Life rarely slowed down. During her second semester at SUNY Albany, her mother suffered a stroke and was later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Joyner gave birth in 2008, and her marriage later ended in divorce. Determined to remain independent, she took civil service exams while pregnant and continued applying for jobs. A week before her due date, she interviewed with State Farm and, after initially being rejected, asked for feedback. “They called back the same day with the opportunity for me to interview with another team, and I got that job,” she said. “I ended up with an 11-week maternity leave before starting—without them knowing I had just given birth.”

She raised Audrey—a global finance major and pre-law student—largely on her own while caring for both parents through illness. Her mother died in 2021. Her father, diagnosed with cancer a month before she began law school, died in 2023. Each new credential became a way to honor them. State Farm partially funded an MBA along the way, and she steadily built her résumé through certifications and promotions. “If you saw my mom’s face when I brought home a diploma,” she said, “you’d get 20, too.”

At 36, Joyner registered for the LSAT in January, took it in February and applied to Seton Hall Law School in March. She enrolled in the Legal Education Opportunity Weekend Program, designed for working professionals and students from underrepresented and nontraditional backgrounds.

For the next three and a half years, she balanced law school, work, caregiving and a five-hour round-trip commute between Albany and Newark. The drive gave her a quiet space in an otherwise demanding schedule. On weekends off, she and Audrey studied together at Starbucks, side by side.

At Seton Hall Law, she found both rigor and community. She credits Adjunct Professor Sarah Connolly’s legal writing course—known for its intensity—with sharpening skills that carried into her corporate law internships and bar exam success.

She also leaned on classmates navigating similar pressures. Taylor Perez, whom she met during orientation, became an informal mentor, offering outlines, advice and encouragement during difficult stretches. “Sometimes you want to hear about the hard parts,” Joyner said. “She was real.”

Even after earning a 4.0 GPA her first semester, Joyner was unsure of her performance and approached her torts professor Jessica Miles to review exams. “She stopped me and said, ‘You deserve this. You deserve to be here.’” The words stayed with her. Joyner completed the program in three and a half years, passed the bar before graduation and entered the profession already licensed. McGuireWoods covered her bar preparation, exam fees and relocation costs—support she does not take lightly after years of financing nearly every step herself.

The move to Pittsburgh marks more than a new job. It represents the culmination of years spent balancing work, caregiving, motherhood and school without lowering expectations for herself.

As she looks ahead, Joyner offers simple advice to students measuring themselves against others: “Strive to be your best, not the best,” she said. “That takes imposter syndrome out of it. You’re not an imposter; you’re yourself. All you have is your best.”