Luke Bandyk creates content and manages special projects for Erikson Institute’s Policy and Leadership Department. He develops online content for a variety of early childhood stakeholders with a focus on providing action steps that one can take to support Illinois’s children and families. Bandyk worked on the Illinois Risk and Reach Report, in 2021, providing data quality control and oversaw the development of the Reports’ website. He also provides project management for the Raising Illinois coalition workgroup focused on improving the diversity, compensation, career pathways and professional development of the infant and toddler workforce in addition to efforts to center racial equity across the coalition. He has been involved with multiple organizations that assist children and families such as Hilltop Neighborhood House, a small community-based organization in Valparaiso, Indiana. There, he led the after-school program, KIDREACH, and supported operations of their early childhood education program which provided care for children from ages six weeks through five years. Bandyk holds a master’s degree in social work with a specialization in leadership and development in social services as well as a certificate in philanthropy and nonprofit management from Loyola University Chicago.