Angela Brooks is an expert in the ins and outs of creating viable affordable housing. She is the director of the Illinois office of the Corporation for Supportive Housing and the president of the American Planning Association.

She also serves on the Chicago Board of Zoning Appeals, the Illinois Affordable Housing Advisory Commission, and is co-chair of the national Housing Supply Accelerator, helping communities meet the housing needs of residents. Brooks is a native of Seattle and a graduate of Jackson State University, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies, and the University of New Orleans, where she received a Master of Urban and Regional Planning.