Speaker Bio

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John Wank

John Wank, a Chicago attorney for the past 28 years, is the General Counsel and Director of Programs for the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission, one of the largest public guardianship offices in the United States. He served as the Commission's Acting Director for three years and has been in his current position for nine years. He previously served as Director and Chief Counsel of the Commission’s Office of State Guardian for ten years.

Mr. Wank is a Past President of National Guardianship Association, a past trustee of the Center for Guardianship Certification and a founding board member of the Illinois Guardianship Association. He was a member of the NGA's Board of Directors from 1995 to 2005 and has presented at many NGA conferences. He has prepared and presented all but one of the NGA’s Guardianship Legal Reviews for twelve years and was the conference chair for the first NGA Guardianship Colloquium in Chicago in 2008. Mr. Wank was also a delegate to the Wingspan National Guardianship conference in November 2001 at the Stetson College of Law in Florida.

He has a law degree from DePaul University School of Law in Chicago, and a Bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University’s School of Criminal Justice. He lives near Chicago in Oak Park, Illinois with his wife, who is a better lawyer than he is, and two sons.