Joy Aruguete

Details

Joy Aruguete
Chief Executive Officer

Ms. Aruguete has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation for 26 years. In this capacity, she supervises operations for this 54-year-old award-winning nonprofit community development corporation dedicated to community-controlled development, the preservation and management of affordable housing, economic development centered on job creation, comprehensive community planning and engagement, and the development of community leaders. Ms. Aruguete manages corporate, subsidiary and affiliate business operations of nearly $25 million annually and oversees the work of 80 staff members who carry out Bickerdike’s mission. 

This work has included: the development of 2,060 housing units, including 154 single family homes, with an additional 207 units under construction and 731 apartments under development; resident-involved property management of 1,194 rental housing units; management of over 90,000 square ft. of commercial space across eight sites; the performance of minor repairs in over 700 households; the development of hundreds of jobs for community residents; and the development of hundreds of community leaders.  

For twenty years, Ms. Aruguete has been an active Board member of the Chicago Rehab Network where she currently serves as board President. In this role she provides citywide leadership in efforts to ensure effective policy, capacity and resources for affordable housing and community development in Chicago.

Ms. Aruguete was appointed by the mayor to the Board of Directors of the Chicago Community Land Trust in 2006, and was appointed to serve as President of the board in 2020. She was appointed to the Illinois FAIR Plan Governing Board in 2015 by the Illinois Insurance Commissioner where she continues to be an active member. In 2021 Ms. Aruguete was appointed to the Cook County Land Bank Authority, and serves on the Land Transactions Committee.

In 2018 Ms. Aruguete received the Outstanding Community Leader Award by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Chicago Chapter. In May 2009 Ms. Aruguete was presented with the 40 Who’ve Made A Difference Award by Business and Professional People for the Public Interest. And, in December 2002 she was presented with the Tom Gobby Award for Neighborhood Leadership by LaSalle Bank.

Ms. Aruguete has been active in the nonprofit sector for over 30 years. Her work at Bickerdike adds to her background in community organizing and economic development. Her experience is enriched by six years of teaching at the University of Illinois at Chicago in the Urban Developers Program of the College of Urban Planning and Policy Administration. Prior to this, she taught for two years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ms. Aruguete received her Master’s Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also holds a Certificate in Non-Profit Management from Roosevelt University and an Illinois Real Estate Managing Broker License.  

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