As the news of the passing of our friend and colleague Simone Joyaux reverberates around the globe, at CFRE International we send our deepest condolences to her life partner, Tom Ahern.
Our sector has lost one of its greats – a fund development extraordinaire, a thought-leader who was ethical, principled, provocative, and loved asking “cage-rattling” questions. Simone was a generous mentor and coach, a champion of women, social justice, the underdog, and life-long learning with the challenge that if we call ourselves fundraising professionals then we’d better be prepared to prove it.
To that end, Simone was a great advocate for CFRE, having attained her credential in 1984 and then serving on the Board for six years, two of which she was Chair (1999 – 2001). As fundraising professionals we will continue to honour Simone through best-practice fundraising and recalling the words of wisdom we each will have gleaned from her, whether it was through one of her books, blogs, hanging from the rafters in a professional development session, or if you were fortunate enough, long and in-depth conversations over meals during AFP conferences.
Vale Simone P. Joyaux.
- Lesley Ray, MBus, CFRE, FFIA
CFRE International Chair
