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2021 ANNUAL REPORT

MEMBERSHIP

 

The APA-IL is the preeminent professional organization for urban planners in Illinois. Our 1,500 members help make great communities happen in Illinois!

FINANCIALS

 

The many important decisions we made reflect the way we keep our members at the center of everything we do.

SUPPORTERS

 

We could not produce the programming or resources for Illinois planners without the support of our sponsors. We would like to extend our sincere gratitude and appreciation for their support. 

Supporters

SUPPORTERS

Thank You 2021-22 Sponsors!

Board

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

2021 Executive Committee (voting)

  • President - Jake Seid, AICP, CMAP

  • Secretary - Emily Egan, AICP, Village of Brookfield

  • Treasurer - Christina Bader, AICP, CTA

  • President Elect - Nina Idemudia, AICP, City of Chicago

  • At Large Officer - Katanya Raby, Far South Community Development Corporation

  • Diversity Equity & Inclusion Officer - Kalindi Parikh, Current

  • Professional Development Officer - Stephanie Brown, AICP, Chastain & Associates

  • Chicago Metro Section Director- Brandon Nolin, AICP, Houseal Lavigne Associates

  • Illinois State Section Director - Lacey Rains Lowe, City of Champaign

 

2021 Committee Chairs and Representatives (non-voting)

  • Awards Committee Chair - Tim Gustafson, AICP, Epstein

  • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee Chair - Amanda Madrigal, CTA

  • Legislative Committee Chair - David Silverman, AICP, Ancel Glink

  • Membership Committee Chair - Emily Egan, AICP, Village of Brookfield / Phillip Green, Village of Woodridge

  • Planning Officials Development Officer - Michael Blue, FAICP, Teska Associates

  • Pro Bono Program - Jaemi Jackson, AICP, CMAP

  • Professional Development Committee Chair - Gabby Mattingly, City of Naperville

  • UIUC Student Representative - Elli Dastrup

  • UIC Student Representative - Erin Ludwig / Henry Siegel

  • UIUC Faculty Representative - Dustin Allred

  • UIC Faculty Representative - Curt Winkle

 

2021 Staff

  • Executive Director - Paula Freeze, NIU Center for Governmental Studies

  • Chapter Finance/Billing - Grace Piotrowski / Cammi Krause, NIU Center for Governmental Studies

CMS

Chicago Metro Section

Thank you to all volunteers that help make Chicago Metro Section programs great! Contact the Chicago Metro Section at cms@ilapa.org

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2021 Executive Committee

Section Director - Brandon Nolin, AICP, Houseal Lavigne Associates

Assistant Director - Kimberly Morris, City of Chicago

Secretary - Bweza Itaagi, Grow Greater Englewood / Valerie Berstene, AICP, Village of Orland Park

Treasurer - Justin Keller, AICP, Metropolitan Planning Council

Past Director - James Testin, AICP, Cullinan Properties, Ltd.

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2021 News and Events

ISS

Illinois State Section

Thank you to all the Illinois State Section volunteers that help make our programs great! The Illinois State Section (APA-ISS) had big plans for 2020, only to fall victim to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. After retreating and reassessing our capabilities in a new world of virtual communication and professional development, APA-ISS was able to have a more robust 2021. The APA-ISS supported citizen planner trainings, grew the roster of citizen planner trainers, and added a new regional coordinator. The APA-ISS Virtual Spring Conference was a huge success, attracting 112 attendees! 

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2021 Section Officers

  • Section Director - Ben LeRoy, City of Champaign / Lacey Rains Lowe, City of Champaign

  • Assistant Director - Lacey Rains Lowe, City of Champaign /  Jeff Mariano, City of Champaign

  • Secretary - Jess Weitzel, LISC

  • Treasurer - Jon Oliphant, AICP, City of Washington

  • Training Coordinator - Greg Crowe, AICP

  • Past Officer - Ben LeRoy, City of Champaign

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2021 Regional Coordinators

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2021 News and Events

Financials

FINANCIALS

Overall, the APA-IL had a successful financial year. Due to the pandemic, the association was projecting a small loss. Despite that, the overall net income was $21,802.20! The overall revenue earned was $158,131.20, which was above the budgeted revenue.  The total expenses for the year were $136,329.00, which was less than the budgeted expenses. As we return to normal, APA-IL was able to have their 2021 State Conference in person. The conference was successful and was able to generate a net income of $6,083.27.  Another revenue source that was successful was the Plan Commissioner Training. The total net income earned from the Plan Commissioner Training was $8,325.10.  Please click here for a .pdf of our 2021 financials.

Membership

MEMBERSHIP

If you are a member of the American Planning Association (APA), and live or work in the state of Illinois, you’re automatically a member of the Illinois Chapter. Our membership remained steady in 2021 at 1,563 members as of September 30, 2021. Chapter-Only membership also remained steady at 71 members. Eighty percent of our membership lives within the Chicago Metro Section. Please click here for a .pdf of 2021 membership statistics.

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AICP certification remained steady with about 40% of our members certified with the American Institute of Certified Planners. Please click here to examine our AICP certification statistics for 2020.

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Membership Committee

The Membership Committee continued to hold successful online networking events throughout 2021. Coffee Talks continued to be an attractive midday break and the "Lockdown Lowdown" was rebranded "The Lowdown" to reflect many of our members going back into their offices this year.

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Chapter-only membership continued to be strong this year thanks to the Committee's dedication in maintaining a connection with existing members and encouraging renewals. 

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For the 2021 State Conference, the Membership Committee put together their first APA-IL Membership Booth, complete with newly designed "talk planning to me" buttons to encourage conversations between attendees.

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A big thank you to Emily Egan, AICP for being the first Membership Committee Chair. The Committee welcomed Phillip Green as the new Membership Committee Chair midway through 2021. 

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2021 Membership Committee

Chairperson - Emily Egan, AICP 

Chairperson - Phillip Green

Reema Abi-Akar

Rory Fancler, AICP

Jennifer Ganser, AICP

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Advocacy

ADVOCACY

Awards

Awards Program

Each year, the Illinois Chapter recognizes the best in planning across Illinois with our annual awards program. These plans exemplify the tremendous planning efforts across the state of Illinois. 

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The APA-IL was happy to be back in Normal, IL for an in-person 2021 Awards Program. We presented 7 project awards and 3 service awards. We are thrilled to honor the best plans and people for 2021.

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Thank you to the Awards Program Chair, Tim Gustafson, AICP and thank you to the 2021 Awards Jury. It’s no small effort to read and review all the great project nominations we receive.

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  • Lesley Roth, AICP, Ratio

  • Cynthia Hoyle, FAICP, Hoyle Consulting

  • Mark Rinnan, AICP, Jacobs

  • Mercy Davison, AICP, Town of Normal

  • Cristen Hardin, PGAV Planners, LLC

  • Steve Marciani, AICP, Village of Skokie and Co-chair for the Awards Program. 

Diversity

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee had an outstanding year in 2021. Their programs fostered diversity and inclusion through educational programs and networking. Thank you to the DEI Officer, Kalindi Parikh and Committee Chair, Amanda Madrigal.

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DEI Committee Members

Heather Smith
Juan Sebastian Arias
Lesley Roth, AICP
Leslie Kirchler-Owen, AICP
Maha Malaika
Malika Hainer, AICP
Vitaliy Vladimirov
Katanya Raby
Nina Idemudia, AICP
Curt Winkle
Justin Keller, AICP
Kristopher Walton
Sean Glowacz, AICP
Nimisha Sharma
Domonique Griffin
Elizabeth Ginsberg, AICP
Cyatharine Alias
Gabriel Guevara

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2021 Diversity Committee News & Events

Legislative

Legislative Committee

The APA-IL Legislative Committee provides information on legislative matters in Springfield that concern planning officials and professionals and provide an effective voice to advocate on matters concerning planning practice and profession in Illinois. 

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Thank you to the Legislative Chair, David Silverman, AICP.

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Legislative Committee Members

David S. Silverman, AICP, Chair

Alicia Hanlon

Greg W. Jones, AICP

Ben Leroy

Michael Penicnak

Bethany Salmon

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2021 Legislative Committee News & Events

Pro Bono

Pro Bono Program

The mission of the APA-IL Pro-Bono Planning Service Program is to provide urban planning services on a pro bono basis by APA-IL members, to assist municipalities, nonprofits, and community organizations in the initiation, organizing, and fine tuning of early stage planning projects. Through the APA Illinois Pro Bono Service Program, organizations walk away with an action plan and a clear understanding of the goals and vision for their city / community / neighborhood. 

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Thank you to the Pro Bono Chair, Jaemi Jackson, AICP.

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Pro Bono Calumet City Project Team

  • Jaemi Jackson, Chair

  • Carol Brobeck

  • Gabrielle Mattingly

  • Lindsey Miller

  • Briana Gipson

  • Manika Shrivastava

  • Event Volunteers: Diane Gormely-Barnes, Aude Lucien Bottineau, Katanya Raby, Mika Schweizer, Richard D. Chambers, Manika Shrivastava, Andrew Dunham, Lindsey Miller

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2021 Pro Bono News & Events

The Pro Bono Committee was excited to complete Calumet City's project that was deferred from 2020 to 2021 due to the pandemic. Thank you to all the APA-IL Volunteers that helped make Calumet City's Walk the Ward event a success!

Education

EDUCATION

Professional Development Committee

The Professional Development Committee was created in January of 2021 and held its first session on July 27th, kicking off the innovative PlanNotes series. Two additional educational programs were held along with the collaborative annual programming event. This was a great start for this new committee!

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Professional Development Committee Members:

Gabrielle Mattingly, Chair

Jessica Gal

James Harris

Colleen Malec

Gabriel Guevara

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2021 State Conference

The APA-IL's 2021 State Conference pivoted from 100% virtual in 2020 to a hybrid conference in 2021. We were happy to be BACK TO NORMAL (Normal, IL) October 6-7 and virtually Oct 8th. Almost 300 planners attended. It was one for the record books! 

Planning Officials

Planning Officials Development Committee

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The Planning Officials Development Committee continued to pivot in 2021, holding a mix of virtual and in-person training to suit everyone's comfort levels and COVID guidelines. This year continued bringing its informative, useful, and interactive training to Planning and Zoning Commissioners (and members of other commissions) around the State. As of December 31st, we have conducted 130 training sessions in Illinois. Here are the communities we served in 2021:

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  • DeKalb County

  • Village of Lisle

  • Village ofNiles

  • Metro East / ISS - Region 5 / APA St. Louis Section

  • Village of Streamwood

  • Town of Cortland

  • Village of Frankfort

  • City of Edwardsville

  • Village of Homer Glen

  • City of Elmhurst

  • Village of Campton Hills

  • Village of Hazel Crest

  • Village of Glenview

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The annual Plan Commissioner Training typically held during the annual State Conference pivoted to an all virtual evening, welcoming commissioners and other officials throughout Illinois. Attendance beat expectations at 147 attendees and evaluations were off the charts. The APA-IL hopes to bring this back to you again soon.

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Thank you to the APA-ILs Planning Officials Development Officer, Michael Blue, FAICP, Trainers and our supporter, the Chaddick Institute at DePaul University.

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2021 Training Faculty

Michael Blue, FAICP

Chuck Bevelheimer, AICP

Stephanie Brown, AICP

Andy Cross, AICP

Carrie Davis, AICP CUD

Mercy Davison, AICP

Phil Dick, AICP

Emily Egan, AICP

​Emily Fultz, AICP

Scott Hanson, AICP

Greg Jones, AICP

Courtney Kashima, AICP

Bruce Knight, FAICP

Ben LeRoy

Lacey Rains Lowe

Jeff Marino, AICP

Les Pollock, FAICP

Mike Schwarz, AICP

Marty Scott, AICP

David Silverman, AICP

Bob Sullivan, FAICP

Dan Ungerleider, AICP

Cindy Winland, FAICP

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2021 Plan Commissioner Training News

Students

Student Organizations

Illinois has two Planning Accreditation Board (PAB) certified schools and each of these schools have student organizations that APA-IL supports:

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College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, Department of Urban Planning and Policy, at the University of Illinois at Chicago

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Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana -Champaign

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