The Samir Kassir Foundation would like to express its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Joseph (Joe) Hall, who passed away suddenly on April 27, 2020.

A long-time friend of the Foundation's, Joe Hall was one of the co-founders and board members of the newly incorporated Samir Kassir Foundation USA.

Joe Hall was born on August 3, 1958 in Greenville, South Carolina. He spent more than 30 years in non-profit management and fundraising and served on the boards of directors of national advocacy organizations and philanthropic institutions in the US and abroad. Joe was a co-chair of the National LGBTQ task force, the AIDS Action Council and former Board Chair of the Fund for Southern Communities. Joe also served as Senior Advisor for the Middle East and North Africa and Senior Director for Lebanon for the National Democratic Institute in Beirut. Since 1997, he provided strategic advice to political parties and civic organizations throughout the Middle East, West Africa, and the former Soviet Union and directed election observations and civic programs in the West Bank and Gaza, Azerbaijan, Sierra Leone, Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon. Joe was a co-founder and founding Vice President of the Halifax International Security Forum in Washington, DC. Based overseas for 15 years, Joe returned to the US in 2011 to join the leadership of the Forum. He most recently served as Director of Governing for Impact.

Joe was also a visual artist whose abstract works hang in corporate and private collections in New York, Washington, DC, Palm Beach, London, and the Middle East.

In his tribute to his friend and former boss, the Samir Kassir Foundation's Executive Director Ayman Mhanna wrote: "Joe Hall represents courage and the willingness to stand up for what's right. Relentlessly. His wit, generosity, and love of life made the world, our lives, and even Lebanon seem better and worth believing in."