Joe Donohue

Director of Development, American Academy of Sleep Medicine Foundation

In 2018, Joe was the first ever full-time employee hired to work for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Foundation (AASM Foundation).  Initially, Joe’s responsibilities were to develop a communications and marketing plan for the AASM Foundation’s new brand and website while supporting efforts to create and implement the organization’s first new strategic plan in over a decade. 

As part of the strategic planning process, Joe took the lead role in persuading the American Academy of Sleep Medicine to make an $8 million multi-year commitment to the AASM Foundation. Additionally, Joe created and launched the AASM Foundation’s first ever corporate recognition program that is designed to enable industry to support the AASM Foundation in ways that mutually align with priorities and values of the sleep community and the clinicians and researchers who are funded by the AASM Foundation’s grants. 

Joe is passionate about developing new programs and initiatives that raise the profile of sleep medicine within the medical community. More specifically, he facilitated a new partnership with the American Medical Association Foundation for the AASM Foundation to fund new scholarships for medical students who are interested in sleep medicine. This new scholarship program directly supports the AASM Foundation’s efforts to increase the pipeline of new physician scientists who will lead the way in developing new solutions and treatments for people with sleep and circadian disorders.

Prior to joining the AASM Foundation, Joe spent over a decade working in fundraising and sponsorship roles for non-profit organizations including the American Association of Endodontists and the AAE Foundation.  Joe has lived in Chicago ever since he first moved here to participate in the Jesuit Volunteer Corp after graduating from Saint Louis University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in marketing.