About Us
SAAPRI was created to fill a critical information gap, educate the public on issues of importance to South Asian Americans, and provide community organizations the tools needed to prioritize their services, help them partner with other groups, and use their resources in the most effective manner.
Since its inception, SAAPRI has:
- Published a major report on census data (the first of its kind to bring all South Asian groups under one inclusive umbrella)
- Conducted a study on barriers to health access for Asian Americans
- Collected oral histories of pioneering South Asian immigrants
- Developed an economic revitalization plan for a troubled neighborhood
In keeping with its spirit of public engagement, SAAPRI regularly collaborates with other ethnic and mainstream organizations, and holds community events to gather input and disseminate information. Its diverse projects provide opportunities for student interns and scholars to get involved with communities at the grass-roots level.
SAAPRI’s target population consists of community organizations, activists, policy makers, students, educators, researchers, and members of the general public who want to know about South Asian Americans and are interested in improving their lives.
SAAPRI is proud to be supported by individual donors, community organizations, and state and local institutions including including the Asian Health Coalition of Illinois, Chicago Public Schools, Illinois Department of Human Services, and Illinois Humanities Council.
SAAPRI Staff
Ami Gandhi, Executive Director
Ami Gandhi joined SAAPRI in October of 2011. She is passionate about serving the South Asian community and has significant experience advocating for minorities and immigrants. Ami frequently writes, teaches, and makes media appearances about civil rights issues.
Ami most recently served as the Legal Director of the Asian American Institute (AAI). At AAI, Ami developed and implemented legal advocacy programs about voting rights, redistricting, affirmative action, language access, hate crimes, and discrimination. Ami led several initiatives to serve the South Asian community in the Chicago area, including redistricting and voting rights advocacy in the Devon Avenue, Skokie, and Des Plaines areas; poll monitoring to protect Indian and Pakistani voters with limited English proficiency; and advocacy for minority-owned businesses. Prior to joining AAI, Ami worked as a litigation attorney at the law firm of Freeborn & Peters, where she represented individuals and companies in a wide variety of practice areas. Ami has experience in state and federal litigation, settlement negotiation, and alternative dispute resolution.
Ami previously served as a board member of Women and Girls Collective Action Network and as an associate board member of CARPLS, which runs a legal aid hotline for low-income residents of Cook County. Ami is a member of the Illinois bar. She earned her J.D. from The George Washington University Law School and her B.A. in psychology and cognitive science from Indiana University.
SAAPRI Founders
Ann Lata Kalayil
Ann Lata Kalayil has a Ph.D. in History from University of Wisconsin at Madison. As a Board member of several organizations, both community service and advocacy based, she has been active in Chicago’s Indian American and Asian American community. She has conducted diversity training and spent over a decade advocating in the areas of economic development for target communities, reforms in immigration, and political empowerment.
K. Sujata
K. Sujata has a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, Illinois. She moved into management of non-profits after several years experience in manufacturing industries. She has developed collaborations with universities in Chicago to add to the knowledge and information about South Asian victims of domestic violence. She has been invited to speak locally and nationally on issues affecting immigrant battered women. She volunteers her time on boards of several non-profits working on social justice issues.
Padma Rangaswamy
Padma Rangaswamy has a Ph.D. in History from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is an historian, author and active member of Chicago’s Asian Indian community. Among her major publications are Namasté America: Indian Immigrants in an American Metropolis (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000), a comprehensive study of Asian Indian immigration, and Indian Americans (The New Immigrant Series, Chelsea House, 2007), a secondary level reader chronicling the achievements and hardships of Indian immigrants in North America. She is also co-author of a pictorial history, Asian Indians of Chicago (Arcadia Publishing, 2003) and has contributed several entries to Asian American encyclopedias and professional journals
