Juan Carlos Linares

Juan Carlos Linares is President and CEO of Association House of Chicago, where he is inspired by the staff’s deep commitment to serving the thousands of participants who rely on the organization each year and by its 127-year legacy of strengthening lives, families, and communities. An attorney since 2002, Juan Carlos has held leadership roles across the nonprofit, government, and civic sectors. He also serves as a part-time Lecturer-in-Law at the University of Chicago Law School.

Raised in a mixed-immigrant household — his mother from Peru and his father from Guatemala — Juan Carlos personally benefited from social service programs, including food pantries and bilingual early childhood education. These formative experiences inform his leadership of Association House as it honors its history, advances its growth, and partners with communities to build strong, stable, and equitable futures.