About Joe Cobb

Rev. Dr. Joe Cobb believes that our greatest calling as human beings is to love one another by honoring and celebrating what makes us unique and by discovering what we can create together. This calling both inspires and informs his devotion to public service in the Roanoke city, region and around the world.

Joe is Vice Mayor and a member of the Roanoke City Council. He also works as Chaplain at Hermitage Roanoke, a senior living community in Northwest Roanoke.  

A native of Wichita, Kansas, Joe has been a resident of Roanoke, Virginia, since 2001 where he lives with his husband, James, and their two children, Ginny and JJ, both students in Roanoke City Public Schools. Their family also includes daughter, Emma (Connor) Gwin, and son, Taylor. Joe has two grandchildren, Harper Jane and William Brindley Gwin.

Joe is Chair of the Council of Community Services Board of Directors, Chair of the City of Roanoke Gun Violence Prevention Commission, Chair of the City of Roanoke Audit Committee President of the GRTC (Greater Roanoke Transit Company) Board, Vice Chair of the City Council Personnel Committee, member of the City Council’s Legislative Committee, and is a member of the Board of Directors for Equality Virginia, the Roanoke Valley Sisters Cities, the TAP This Valley Works Board of Commissioners, the Roanoke Valley and Alleghany Regional Commission and the Clean Valley Council.

Joe has a Doctor of Ministry degree from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. He also has a Master of Divinity degree from Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Texas, USA, and a Bachelor of Philosophy degree from Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas, USA.

Joe is co-author of Our Family Outing: A Memoir of Coming Out and Coming Through, written with his former spouse, Rev. Leigh Anne Taylor. The book is a unique, two voice narrative of a gay man and straight woman and their journey through marriage, children, coming out, divorce, healing, reconciliation, and creating a new way of being family.

Getting to Know Joe

Local Government

  • Elected to City Council, 2018-2022

  • Vice Mayor, 2018-2020

  • Elected to City Council, 2023-

  • Vice Mayor, 2023-

Chaplain, Hermitage Roanoke, 2018-

Council Assignments

  • Vice Chair, City of Roanoke Audit Committee

  • President, GRTC (Greater Roanoke Transit Company) Board

  • Vice Chair, City Council Personnel Committee

  • Council-appointed liaison to the City of Roanoke Gun Violence Prevention Commission (former Chair from 2021-2023)

  • Member, City Council Legislative Committee

  • Elected Official representative/Chair, Roanoke Valley-Alleghany Regional Comprehensive Economic Strategy Committee

  • Elected Official representative, Virginia Municipal League, Human Development and Education Policy Committee

Community Engagement

  • Chair, Council of Community Services Board of Directors,

  • Member, Equality Virginia Board of Directors

  • Member, Clean Valley Council Board of Directors

  • Member, Roanoke Valley Sister Cities International Board of Directors

  • Member, Southwest Virginia Chapter American Red Cross

  • Commissioner, TAP This Valley Works

  • Member, Community and Diversity Advisory Council, Virginia Tech/Carilion School of Medicine

  • Member, Carilion Clinic Bioethics Committee

Education

  • Doctor of Ministry, Columbia Theological Seminary, 2024

  • Master of Divinity, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, 1989

  • Bachelor of Philosophy, Southwestern College, 1983

Books

  • Our Family Outing: A Memoir of Coming Out and Coming Through, co-authored with Rev. Leigh Anne Taylor, 2011. The book is a unique, two voice narrative of a gay man and straight woman and their journey through marriage, children, coming out, divorce, healing, reconciliation, and creating a new way of being family.

Honors and Awards

  • 2024 George and Sally Telford Outstanding DMin Graduate Award, Columbia Theological Seminary

  •  2023 Friend of the Foundation Award, The Compress & Shock Foundation

  • 2023 Top Community Leader, Virginia Diverse Chamber of Commerce, 2023 National Roanoke Beautification Day

  • 2023 Outstanding Community Partner, Project Search, Goodwill of the Valleys

  • 2022 Southern Christian Leadership Conference Roanoke Chapter Community Service Award

  • 2021 Kegley Preservation Award, Heritage & Advocacy, “Honoring Their Breaths,” Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation

  • 2021 Community Service Leader, 2021 National Roanoke Community Beautification Day

  • 2019 Equality Virginia OUTstanding Virginian, in recognition and gratitude for helping promote, advance, and champion full equality for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender citizens by representing the community with distinction

  • 2018 Local Hero Nominee, Community School, Roanoke, Virginia

  • 2012 Lambda Service Award for Individual Contribution to the GLBT Community, Roanoke, Virginia

  • 2009 Selected as one of thirty Roanoke Creative Connectors, a group of 30 individuals from the region dedicated toward creating new sustainable initiatives based on the economic development work of Richard Florida and his group, The Creative Class.