Joya Georgelas

Joya Georgelas (Tania Joya stage name) is an expert on International Terrorism. For ten years, Georgelas was married to the highest-ranking American propagandist and a commander for the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS).

After fleeing her ex-husband and Islamist militants in Syria (along with her four young sons), Georgelas worked as an informant for US intelligence services, gathering classified information on international threats and collaborating with law enforcement to prosecute ISIS members. She has worked with Human Rights organizations focusing on Preventing Violent Extremism and deradicalization initiatives for incarcerated Islamists and Neo-Nazis.

Yale professor, investigative journalist, and author Graeme Wood first publicized Georgelas's story in his New York Times Best Seller, "The Way of the Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State".

Georgelas has been an activist in educating the world about the dangers that Islamic indoctrination imposes. She advocates for policy change to protect children and adolescents from terrorist recruitment and female sex trafficking, protection of ex-Muslims, and the preservation of religious minorities in the Middle East.

She frequently appeared on the news for her insight on managing radical Islamists returning to the West from ISIS. She gives detailed lectures on global terrorism to universities, the US Congress, and podcasts. The Guardian, Texas Monthly, TEDx, Glenn Beck, the BBC, TEDx, NPR, Sky News, CNN International, The Atlantic, Glenn Beck, Good Morning Britain, and CBN interviewed Georgelas about her extensive knowledge and background of Islamic fundamentalism.

Georgelas participated in the documentary film 'Kids: Chasing Paradise,’ which explores the exploitation of child soldiers in Muslim-majority societies. Her personal story has also been featured in the documentary film 'A Radical Life' and is available on HBO.

Georgelas partook in activist work for 'Preventing Violent Extremism.' and worked undercover for multiple Western governments, infiltrating Islamist groups and providing intelligence to fight the war against ISIS.