Joe.Hale@emkinstitute.org
857-271-3331
Prior to joining EMKI, Hale was President of The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. He led a campaign to reimagine the IMS Museum, raising $200MM to completely renovate the Museum, creating a new 60,000sf Restoration Facility, and added $100MM to the IMS Museum’s endowment (imsmuseum.org).
Previously, Hale was Executive Director of The Dreamland, Nantucket’s year-round cultural center, where he reversed annual operating deficits, increased programming, and began a campaign to provide an endowment for the organization.
Hale also served as Founder and President of The Global BrightLight Foundation, the largest NGO in the world at the time providing solar lanterns to off grid families in developing areas in a dozen countries. Prior to creating The Global BrightLight Foundation, Hale served as Vice President & Chief Communications Officer of Cinergy Corp. (now Duke Energy), and as President of Cinergy Foundation. He also served as President of Cincinnati Gas and Electric Company.
Hale has worked in commercial real estate development and headed an architectural firm with offices in the Midwest. Prior to entering the private sector, Mr. Hale had extensive experience in arts management – with the Indiana Arts Commission, as a high school teacher of theatre in Germany, with Historic New Harmony, Inc. and as executive director of the Metropolitan Arts Council of Indianapolis.
He has been a Trustee (and frequently Chairman) of numerous organizations. Hale graduated from Hanover College, and is a graduate of the Harvard University’s Institute in Arts Administration. He holds honorary degrees from the Columbus (OH) College of Art and Design and from Hanover College.
Hale has served on the boards of The National March of Dimes, The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, The Eiteljorg Museum, The Indiana Repertory Theatre, Dance Kaleidoscope, The Sconset Trust, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center, The Community Foundation for Nantucket, Theatre Workshop of Nantucket, Fifth Third Funds, Hanover College, and several not-for-profit boards in Cincinnati and on Nantucket.
Hale and his wife, Linda, have raised over $250MM for various nonprofits, including chairing the campaign to build Cincinnati’s Contemporary Art Center, designed by Zaha Hadid. He also raised over $300K for the March of Dimes by running 7 marathons in 7 months on 7 continents. They have three children and six grandchildren.
