Joe Antolín serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Asset Funders Network (AFN). Joe is a dynamic and entrepreneurial leader with 30+ years of experience as an advocate, mentor, litigator, and executive creating lasting impact in local and regional communities. In his role, he guides AFN’s growth and the team’s focused efforts to engage philanthropy to advance equitable wealth building and economic mobility across the United States.
Previously, Joe led a consulting practice, served in several executive leadership positions in nonprofit and state government, and was an active legal services individual and class action litigator. He has empowered and led teams in several organizations, provided executive coaching to nonprofit executives of color in several states, and served as a coach mentor for the racial equity national cohort of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Community Leadership Fellowship. He also served as Heartland Alliance’s Senior Vice President, Heartland Human Care Services Inc.’s Executive Director, as a director at Catholic Charities of Chicago, and as the Deputy Director of the Illinois human services department.
In these executive roles, he oversaw policy change, advocacy, community engagement, and program design-implementation across issue areas including EITC and CSA, asset building for low income households (in subsidized housing and shelters), consumer protection, income supports, implementing FSA in Chicago public housing, immigration, refugee resettlement, anti-trafficking, affordable and supportive housing, workforce training, publicly financed jobs, transitional jobs program design, equity in state health improvement planning, and early childhood development programs. His experience started as an advocate and litigator with income supports and anti-poverty program benefits at the state and Federal levels. As an attorney, he litigated for civil rights, consumer law, disability benefits, and systemic reform with the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland and the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago.
Joe holds a J.D. from Columbus School of Law at Catholic University and received his Bachelor of Arts with Honors from Wesleyan University. He is licensed to practice law as a member of the Illinois Bar. He currently serves on the boards of the Illinois Public Health Institute, and Three Sisters Kitchen in Albuquerque. After decades in Chicago, he now resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Contact: joe@assetfunders.org
Administrative support: suzil@assetfunders.org
Pronouns: he/him/his