Joel Bookman, president and CEO of Bookman Associates, Inc., provides consulting services in economic development, comprehensive community development, commercial corridor revitalization, strategic planning, and nonprofit management.
For more than 30 years, Joel has worked with community organizations, residents, businesses and public officials across the country to make neighborhoods better and stronger.
His philosophy is grounded in the belief that neighborhood change and stability start with the people who live and work there and that defining their vision and abilities is key to implementing effective social and business strategies. Economic development – creating and maintaining businesses that provide services, jobs and social cohesion – is at the heart of his work.
Before establishing his consulting business in 2012, Joel was managing director of the Institute for Comprehensive Community Development, a venture of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). He also was director of programs for LISC Chicago. Joel has led community development efforts on Chicago’s Northwest Side as executive director of the North River Commission and the Lawrence Avenue Development Corporation. He was also CEO of the Kimball Plaza Development Corporation and the Mayfair Commons Senior Living Center LLC.
Joel Bookman believes that community residents have both the right and the responsibility to participate in the decisions that affect them. For more than three decades, he has led community-based organizing, advocacy, planning, and comprehensive community development efforts that embody those principles.
