Barbara Van Dyke-Brown, M.S.S.W., Director
Barbara Van Dyke-Brown, M.S.S.W., is director of Legislative Internships and Advocacy Programs within the Institute for Legal, Legislative and Policy Studies, a unit of the Center for State Policy and Leadership at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
Barbara is co-author of Lobbying Illinois: How You Can Make a Difference in Public Policy. She also serves as editor of the Almanac of Illinois Politics, a biennial publication in 2002, 2004 and 2008. In addition to writing, Barbara manages the Institute's workshops related to lobbying, legislative process and the state budget process.
Since 2003, Barbara has coordinated the Illinois Legislative Staff Intern Program, a premier program that provides 24 internship opportunities with the legislative partisan staffs and the Legislative Research Unit each year. Her responsibilities include administration, fiscal authority, oversight of recruitment, selection, and orientation for the program.
In addition to her administrative position, Barbara has served for six years as adjunct faculty at UIS for the Legislative Applied Study Term, an undergraduate seminar associated with legislative internships. She has also conducted an online class for the past four years designed specifically for the Masters Teaching and Learning curriculum, using the electronic resources of Blackboard.
Before coming to the Institute, Barbara accumulated nine years of Illinois legislative experience including two years as government analyst/lobbyist for the Illinois State Support Center associated with the Legal Services Corporation in Illinois, five years as senior research associate for the Council on Women, associated with the Citizens Assembly, a legislative support agency of the Illinois General Assembly, and an additional two years with the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, as public policy coordinator.
Barbara graduated with an Associates' degree from Springfield College in Illinois before completing her Bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences from Illinois State University. She continued her education pursuits at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, completing her Master's degree in Social Work with a focus on public policy.
Barbara is the 1995 recipient of the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Award, presented by the Illinois National Organization for Women for her years of tireless advocacy on behalf of Illinois women through the Citizens Assembly - Council on Women.
In addition to her professional achievements, Barbara is married and mother to a son. She is a member of Chatham Presbyterian Church, where she has volunteered to assist with Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. She has also served as a den leader to Cub Scout Pack #77, Raymond, IL. Over the last two years, Barbara has served as both secretary and president of the Historic Marbold Farmstead Association, a newly formed non-profit. The organization is attempting to create a living history farm near the village of Greenview, in Menard County, Illinois.