In his free time, Joe likes getting outside to enjoy Lake Michigan and all Chicagoland has to offer with his wife and son. Joe is an avid oil painter and softball player and loves a good beer with a hot dog.
Joe Van Dyk
Executive Director
Joe van Dyk has worked in planning and redevelopment for nearly twenty years. He is passionate about growing the Land Bank's footprint, creating new programs and projects, and stabilizing disinvested neighborhoods south of Chicago. Joe particularly enjoys getting to know member cities and villages individually to learn about all the things that make each community special.
Prior to joining South Suburban Land Bank in 2022, Joe worked as a public policy advisor in the Pacific Northwest with a focus on housing and homelessness. Prior to that, he spent eight years in Gary, IN as Executive Director of the Gary Redevelopment Commission, Director of Planning, and as a senior advisor to the Mayor. Joe has also served as an at-large board member on the Tacoma Community Redevelopment Authority and as the inaugural chair of the Land County (IN) Land Bank Authority.
Joe earned a Master's degree in Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois-Chicago and a BA from Fordham University.