After emigrating from Italy at age 8, S. Joseph Bruno has had a highly successful career as a certified public accountant, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He was a partner in two “Big 4” accounting firms and the CFO of a public company. He is the President and CEO Emeritus of Building Hope, a nonprofit that supports charter schools. In December, he joined the board of directors of the Italian American Museum of Washington, and in January, he was appointed to the board of Building Hope, which also has an award named after him.

Bruno serves or has served on other nonprofit boards, including Leadership Greater Washington, the Washington Police Foundation, the Boys & Girls Club, Big Brothers, the Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools, and Bluum. He is also the former chairman of the board at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.