About Playworks Illinois

All kids deserve the social, emotional, and physical benefits of play. We help schools and youth programs create healthy play environments where every child can join in.

Contact Us

Meet Playworks Illinois


Founded in 1996, Playworks expanded to Illinois in 2011. Playworks Illinois serves low-income schools through our year-round, on-site support services. We’re also reaching thousands more students across Illinois through professional development workshops for schools and youth organizations.

Meet our Service Partners

Learn about our Impact

Read the Playworks Equity Statement

Our Core Values

core values graphic

Meet Our People


April 6, 2022

Alexander Grassi ›

Alexander (Al) Grassi is excited to be back with Playworks in a new role in his hometown of Chicago Illinois! A product of the city’s south side, Al previously spent four transformative years with Playworks Indiana as a two term…

November 14, 2022

Aviva Abrams ›

Aviva graduated from Bradley University in 2020 with her B.S. in Elementary Education with an ESL endorsement. After working as a general education teacher for the past two years, Aviva has decided to continue making a difference through her work…

August 26, 2022

Korie Booker ›

Korie Booker was born in Mount Clemens, Michigan. Like many other youth services workers she took a summer job working with youth at Colin Powell Elementary in Detroit, Michigan. Little did she know that small summer job would shape her…

Join the Team


We’re hiring! Join us on the playground or behind the scenes.

Open positions