Peter Palanca
Executive Vice President
As executive vice president of TASC, Peter Palanca oversees programs that serve 25,000 clients annually throughout Illinois. He also directs TASC's strategic planning process and oversees TASC’s external training services and philanthropy.
Mr. Palanca has had a distinguished career in the field of substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery, serving as executive director and regional vice president with Hazelden Foundation in Chicago and as an executive director with Parkside Behavioral Health Services in Chicago.
Mr. Palanca currently serves as vice chair of the Illinois Alcoholism and Drug Dependence Association and is an active member of the board of directors of the National Association for Children of Alcoholics. He sits on the advisory board of Healthcare Alternative Systems (HAS) and is a member of both the board of directors and advisory board of Prevention Partnership, a non-profit prevention and health promotion agency located in Chicago. Additionally, Mr. Palanca serves as the chairman of the advisory board of the Governors State University Addictions Studies and Behavioral Health Department and holds a faculty appointment as senior lecturer of Addiction Studies in the College of Health and Human Services.
Early in his career, Mr. Palanca acted as president of the National Adolescent Treatment Consortium, deputy director of the Illinois Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, and served on various advisory boards. He developed and led adolescent behavioral healthcare programs at South Suburban Council on Alcoholism, Ingalls Memorial Hospital, and Lutheran Center for Substance Abuse. He also began the Region II Operation Snowball, a youth and adult partnership that provides awareness and prevention of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use, while encouraging healthy decision-making, and served in the capacity as director for 15 years.
Mr. Palanca earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.
