Ben van Loon

Ben van Loon is an award-winning writer, researcher, and association leader from Chicago. By day he serves as managing director and editor-in-chief of AFIRE, an international trade association of institutional investors focused on commercial real estate in the United States. The association has nearly 200 member organizations from 25 countries, representing $3 trillion AUM. Van Loon oversees the association’s marketing, PR, and thought leadership platform—including the multiple-award-winning Summit Journal. He has been named one of the Association Forum “Forty Under 40” for 2023, and in 2021 he was awarded “Editor of the Year” by Ragan’s/PR Daily.

By night, van Loon serves as an adjunct professor of communications at Northeastern Illinois University, where he holds a master’s degree in communications and media. He also provides regular marketing and PR strategy counsel and as an independent consultant, writer, and editor, and is published extensively across academic, professional, and creative platforms.

Previously, van Loon led communications for the Chicago office of SOM, a global architecture and engineering firm; World Business Chicago, the City of Chicago’s economic development agency; and other roles in public relations, business journalism, and consulting. He also holds dual bachelor’s degrees in English and philosophy from North Park University.