Joseph Azam is an Afghan-American lawyer, writer, advocate and policy advisor currently serving as the Board Chair for the Afghan-American Foundation, a leading national non-profit organization focused on advancing the interests of Afghan-Americans. He also serves on the National Welcome Council for Welcome.Us.

He began his legal practice as a litigator at the international law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher focused on white collar criminal investigations and enforcement. He has since held senior executive legal roles at a number of leading companies. He’s a recognized expert in international anticorruption, sanctions, and corporate integrity.

Joseph has previously worked with the Institute for State Effectiveness on justice system and anticorruption issues in Afghanistan. He was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and came to the US with his family seeking asylum in the 1980s. His writing on Afghanistan has appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Newsweek, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Hill, MTVNews, and Lucky Peach Magazine. 

He holds a law degree from the University of California, College of the Law, San Francisco and an MA and BA from New York University, where his graduate research at the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies focused on political Islam, Afghanistan and the first rise of the Taliban.