The American Planning Association - Illinois Chapter is Illinois' source for networking and professional development in the field of urban planning. Our chapter exists as part of the national American Planning Association and is a 501c3.
Our Mission
The purpose of the APA-IL is to improve the quality and credibility of Illinois Planning, serving planners by:
Advancing the cause of planning in Illinois
Enhancing planning skills and tools, building mutual support for Illinois planners
Enhancing communication among planners
Enhancing communication with affiliated organizations
Being a liaison between National APA and Chapter members
Career support? Advocacy? Professional development? The resources you can’t get anywhere else? Our members agree that there isn't one reason for an APA membership. It's about being supported in their profession.
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The APA-IL offers unique educational and networking opportunities to keep members current with the latest urban planning trends and connect with fellow Illinois professionals.
The Chicago Metro Section (APA-CMS) is a sub-section of the statewide Illinois Chapter of the American Planning Association. The APA-CMS covers topics relevant to seven Chicago counties: Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will.
Chicago Metro Section Executive Committee
Section Director - Justin Keller, AICP, Elevate
Assistant Director - Valerie Berstene, AICP
Secretary - Amina Awad, Village of Northfield
Treasurer - Anna Franco, AICP, City of Naperville
Past Director - Brandon Nolin, AICP, Village of Morton Grove
To contact the Chicago Metro Section, please contact us.
The CMS collaborates with local planners to develop a calendar of monthly programs each year to provide educational and professional development opportunities for fellow planners, students, and affiliated professionals. Some of the CMS monthly programs are co-sponsored with affiliated organizations, such as CMAP, UIC, DePaul, and the Chaddick Institute, which reinforces APA-IL’s capacity to form partnerships that help promote the planning field and form connections with other related fields, such as development, real estate, architecture, and design. In addition to its monthly programs, CMS also works with local student organizations to sponsor networking and mentoring activities, which help up and coming planners break into the planning work world.
A summary of the 6/10/26 APA-CMS & Chaddick Institute webinar: Tales from the Front Lines: Getting Development Density Increases Approved. Written by John Hedrick.
Hosted by Ginkgo Planning + Design and APA-CMS this 3 hour workshop will have real case studies and hands-on drawing exercises. You will leave with the practical design skills needed to translate community vision into buildable plans.
6/11/25 Olmsted's Riverside: Embracing Nature in City Planning (and a Nice Walk) The APA-IL Chicago Metro Section hosted "Olmsted's Riverside: Embracing Nature in City Planning (and a Nice Walk)," on June 11, 2025, coinciding with the Village's sesquicentennial celebration. Click here for details.
5/24/23 Looking for Housing in All the Right Places: Converting Commercial to Residential A virtual roundtable of professionals that are tackling design challenges associated with converting existing commercial building stock into housing. This presentation was a collaboration between the APA-CMA and DePaul University's Chaddick Institute.
11/9/2021 Development Incentives 101 This APA-CMS session will explore how communities and developers can balance their competing interests to get a project built through case studies and interactive examples, as well as a review of policy research regarding the prevalence of, and best practices for, local development incentive use.
11/4/2021 Designing and Codifying Climate Change Adaptation As midwestern planners and landscape architects grapple with how to adapt, this event will get beyond the basics to discuss site-level impacts ...and what we can do about it. HOSTS: APA-IL Chicago Metro Section and the Illinois Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects
The Illinois Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ILASLA) and the APA-IL Chicago Metro Section (APA-CMS) presented an engaging discussion on community lighting standards and the ins and outs of Dark Sky communities on November 10, 2020.
Teska Associates and the APA-IL Chicago Metro Section are teamed up to provide a webinar for planners that have become Department Heads and Managers, have recently taken on or expect to be thrust into a more managerial role, or are interested in taking on that role in the future.
Come learn how Chicago, by putting equity, resiliency, and inclusion at the forefront, is creating a roadmap for the revival of disinvested communities.
Learn how transportation agencies are leveraging these tools to solve their most pressing and of-the-moment transportation issues and what lessons they have learned in doing so.
The APA-IL Chicago Metro Section and Ancel Glink’s Quorum Forum podcast hosted a live virtual happy hour for the Sixth Annual Bar Exam Planning Law Session!
As midwestern planners and landscape architects grapple with how to adapt, this event gets beyond the basics to discuss site-level impacts ...and what we can do about it.
Join the APA-IL Chicago Metro Section as they focus on suburban communities, from what their ordinances look like to what the impacts have been. Bring your curiosity, bring your questions, and let’s dive in.
On June 22, 2023 the Illinois Chapter of the American Planning Association's Chicago Metro Section (APA-CMS) teamed up with Epstein once again for our annual bicycle tour.
The Chicago Metro Section and DePaul University Chaddick Institute's Municipal Design Review Network (MDRN) hosted a virtual roundtable discussion with professionals that are tackling the design challenges associated with converting existing commercial building stock into housing.
On May 15, 2024, a group of planners and affiliated professionals rode the rails for a "Metra Crawl" on the UP-NW line, featuring Park Ridge and Arlington Heights.
The Chicago Metro Section of the American Planning Association - Illinois Chapter (APA-CMS) donned their hair nets on Wednesday, March 6th, for a night of giving back and connecting.
