Art Dykstra is the President and CEO of Trinity Services, Inc. of Joliet, Illinois.

Art grew up in Racine, WI. He attended Bethel College in St. Paul, MN, and earned a master's degree in clinical psychology from Bradley University in Peoria, IL. He began his career as an intern at the Elgin (Illinois) State Hospital, working with persons with severe mental illness.

He worked for the State of Illinois for 20 years in its department of mental health and developmental disabilities (now IDHS). There, he served as superintendent of two state-operated facilities, and as regional administrator for developmental disabilities of the nine-county Chicago metropolitan area.

In 1987, Trinity Services, a Joliet-based school employing 33 people and serving 40 people with developmental disabilities, invited Art to serve as their executive director. By 2008, Trinity had grown into a multi-faceted provider serving more than 1,300 people who have intellectual or developmental disabilities, or behavioral health needs. Currently, Trinity employs more than 1,200 people. In 2007, the agency earned recognition for best practices through the Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award for Illinois, a program of the American Psychological Association (APA). In 2008, Trinity was again recognized by the APA for its best practices in psychological services.

Among his many leadership positions, Mr. Dykstra has served as president of the Board of the Accreditation Council on Services for People with Disabilities (now CQL), the Illinois Chapter of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, the Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, and the Illinois Conference of Executive Directors. He is the founder and chairperson of the steering committee for the National Association of QDDPs.

In addition to his work with High Tide Press, Art has published articles in the Journal of Mental Health Administration and in the book Advances in Law and Child Development. He has taught at the undergraduate and graduate level on administration, psychological testing and executive leadership. And, over the past 20 years, he has offered guidance and consultation to many disability organizations and professionals in the United States.

Art's office is rumored to hold the largest collection of frog art in the country. (Learn more about the Trinity frog mascot, Lillie Leapit.) He and his wife, Anita Rigg Dykstra, live in New Lenox, Illinois.