Joel Hamernick is currently the Associate Vice President of Civic Engagement at the University of Chicago. Previously, he served as the Executive Director of Sunshine Enterprises and Sunshine Gospel Ministries, a 114 year old urban ministry in Chicago. His undergraduate studies were in Bible and Theology at Moody Bible Institute and graduate work was in Organizational Leadership at Cairn University. Joel’s tenure at Sunshine included the rebuilding of the organization from the ground up focusing on youth outreach and enrichment, service learning, business incubation, violence reduction and facilities development. 

Joel and his wife Paula have seven children, 2 of whom are married, as well as 3 granddaughters. They live in the Woodlawn community on the South Side of Chicago.