A native Atlantan and current Savannahian, Joe Thomas is the Executive Director of the Sapelo Foundation, a decades-old private family foundation based in Coastal Georgia. A lifelong Georgian with over a decade of experience supporting environmental and social justice organizations and campaigns in a variety of roles, he has worked with a litany of community groups, including Georgia Conservation Voters, Trees Atlanta, and the Georgia Conservancy, and has served as a board director for the Southeastern Trust for Parks and Land and the Georgia Conservancy Generation Green board. He was a member of the Memorial Drive Greenway Visioning Committee in Atlanta and was instrumental in efforts to change the name of Confederate Avenue (now United Avenue) in Atlanta’s Grant Park and Ormewood Park neighborhoods.

Joe lives with his wife, Meghan, a Savannah public school teacher, and their son Brooks on Savannah’s southside. He enjoys cooking and travelling and is an avid supporter of Atlanta and UGA sports.