Ed Hall built a 30-year career in federal service at the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a Transportation Specialist in the Division of Transportation. He formed strategic partnerships and collaborated closely with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to develop outreach strategies, and technical assistance and training regarding federal program regulations and eligible uses of tribal transportation funds to increase the impact of federal funds coming into tribal communities. 

He built capacity in Indian country to broaden the use of transportation funds to include economic development and tourism infrastructure development. For example, Ed provided BIA funding to FHWA’s National Scenic Byway Program (NSBP) to develop a tribal outreach strategy when Indian tribes became eligible for funding as direct recipients for NSBP funds. The result was a series of national workshops developed to promote NSBP to tribes to increase the number of applications into the program. In doing so, the program saw a year over year increase in tribal applications, and a 20% decrease in ineligible applications from tribes. He was also able to facilitate partnerships among states and federal land management agencies with Indian tribes to better leverage federal resources and to achieve a greater economy of scale with both federal program funds and tribal transportation funds.

 In his tenure with the Bureau of Trust Fund Administration, Ed wrote and managed federal contracts, was a Contract Officer’s Representative (COR) and is an expert in the field of government contracting, including writing contract specifications, and monitoring federal awards for compliance. Ed ensures that tribal inclusion is a part of any strategic planning effort that revolves around equity, workforce development, climate change, social and environmental justice, and economic parity. 

Over the years, he was the point of contact for the establishment of tribal inclusion in FHWA’s National Scenic Byways Program, Tribal Technical Assistance Program, and the Transportation Enhancements Program; the National Academy of Science; the Transportation Research Board; the 1995 White House Conference on Tourism; Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commemoration; Sesquicentennial of the Civil War; and the Indigenous Tourism Collaborative of the Americas to name a few.