Joe Keefe to receive 2022 Eileen D. Foley Award
RYE — Friends Forever International will present the 2022 Eileen D. Foley Award to Joe Keefe at its Annual Dinner and Roast on Wednesday, Oct. 12. The event will be held at the Wentworth by the Sea Country Club located at 60 Wentworth Road in Rye, N.H.
Each year, FFI presents the Eileen D. Foley Award to a New Hampshire citizen(s) who takes personal responsibility in making the world a better place. Keefe’s family, friends, and fellow community leaders will gather to present him with the award and watch as he is “roasted” by family members, colleagues and friends.
“Joe is a natural for this honor. He sees both the ‘forest and the trees.’ He has been a quiet leader in his profession, politics, and personal relationships. He is generous, smart, soulful, honest - and he has big shoulders. He is more aligned with character than with ego. He’s generous with both financial support and wisdom – he is committed to making the world 'a better place.’ He is also very funny!” said Elisabeth Robinson, recipient of the 2021 Eileen D. Foley Award.
Keefe is president of Impax Asset Management LLC, the North American division of Impax Asset Management Group, and investment adviser to Pax World Funds. Under Joe’s leadership, Impax has become a leading specialist asset manager investing in opportunities arising from the transition to a more sustainable economy.
Keefe is a passionate advocate for investing in women and the critical role that gender diversity plays in business success. He has received numerous awards for this work from international and national investment organizations and periodicals, including Barron’s and the Financial Times. Closer to home, the University of New Hampshire named Joe “Social Innovator of the Year” in 2016. That same year, he also received the Global Leadership Award from the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire.
In 2011, Keefe was one of the co-founders of the Thirty Percent Coalition, a non-profit organization that works to increase diversity in corporate boardrooms. He is former co-chair of the leadership group for the Women’s Empowerment Principles, a joint program of the United Nations Global Compact and UN Women, and is also a former board chair of Women Thrive Worldwide, a Washington, DC-based non-profit advancing the interests of women and girls globally who live on less than $2 per day.
Keefe currently serves on the board of New Hampshire Public Radio. He is a former board member of CASA of NH, Odyssey House, On Belay, and Americans for Campaign Reform. He is a former chair of the NH Democratic Party and was the Democratic Party’s nominee for U.S. Congress in New Hampshire’s First District in 1988, 1990, and 1996.
"Joe is a clear choice for this award. He is a champion and advocate for women in leadership, business, and society. Leading a business with a social conscience and responsibility is a pillar of Joe's work. In addition to the Keefe family’s deep Manchester roots, the Seacoast has been blessed with Joe's energy, compassion, and leadership," said Jameson French, FFI’s board chair.
Based in Durham, FFI provides training and support for emerging youth leaders from across the globe. Its mission is to help youth become the best version of themselves to help their community become the best version of itself. Selected youth participate in a yearlong FFI leadership program where they develop the skills that will help them make the world a better place. Since its founding in 1986, FFI has worked with more than 2,000 youth leaders in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the United States.
To learn more about Keefe, the Eileen D. Foley Award, and FFI programs, visit www.ff.international/roast.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Joe Keefe to receive 2022 Eileen D. Foley Award
