Indo-American Center President Anita Puri (L) and Past President and Director Rishi Agrawal (R). | Indo-American Center
Indo-American Center President Anita Puri (L) and Past President and Director Rishi Agrawal (R). | Indo-American Center
As part of Chicago City Wire's new "Illinois DOGE" series, we will profile non-profit organizations receiving State of Illinois funding to provide services the state also provides.
These non-profits, also known as "non governmental organizations," often receive all or an overwhelming majority of their funding from government/taxpayers.
Indo-American Center (IAC)
The Indo-American Center headquarters in Chicago's West Ridge neighborhood.
| Google Maps
6328 N. California Ave., Chicago
West Ridge neighborhood
The IAC is a non-profit that bills itself as the "oldest South Asian organization in Chicago," according to its web site.
Founded in 1990 "by a group of Indian immigrants seeking to respond to the wide range of needs within Chicago’s South Asian immigrant population. Founders included "individuals from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives" who provided "immigration assistance."
Annual Revenue: $2,055,030 in 2022, according to the group's latest available Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 990 filing.
$974,771 of this revenue (47 percent) came from government grants.
From 2012-2022, total revenue for IAC surged 350 percent, from $527,101 to more than $2 million.
Government grants surged even more-- some 900 percent-- from $109,935 to nearly $1 million.
Who: In 2022, IAC spent 70 percent of its revenue-- $1.454 million-- on salaries.
Angie Lobo served as executive director of the Indo-American Center from Nov. 2019 - Aug. 2024, when she left to be Director of Scheduling and Advance for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Lobo previously served as director of finance and operations for other government-supported non-profits, including Enlace Chicago (2015-2019), as a project manager for the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago (2014) and as director of Development and Operations for “community organizer” ONE Northside (2010-2014).
Lobo started her political career as chief of staff to State Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Evanston). She’s a 2003 graduate of the University of Illinois Chicago, with a degree in social work.
Anita Puri took over for Lobo as the IAC’s executive director in Aug 2024.
Puri previously worked for Whirlpool Corporation (2021-2024), as an account director at Leo Burnett (2017-2021) and in marketing roles at Digitas (2009-2013) and PepsiCo (2004-2009). She also served as chief marketing officer and chief growth officer for the Chicago-based non-profit Start Early (2013-2017), formerly known as The Ounce of Prevention, which advocates for more government funding of pre-school.
Helping immigrants, illegal aliens vote, get on public aid
In its 2015 IRS 990 filing, the IAC said its mission was "promotion of South-Asians through services that facilitate their adjustment, integration and friendship with the wider society (and) nurture their sense of community." IAC said it operated programs in "computer education," "adult literacy," "youth development" and "workforce development."
In 2018, IAC changed its mission description to emphasize immigration, claiming to "address the needs of South Asian immigrants as well as people from more than 30 nations the world over" while working to "foster appreciation for the diversity of culture and heritage" among the non-South Asian population of Chicago.
IAC's revenue has more than doubled since 2018, with government grants jumping from $408,509 that year to $974,771 in 2022.
The IAC told the IRS that in 2022, it spent $618,014 on "civic and immigration services."
The "Indo-American Center's Civic Engagement Program integrates voter registration, mobilization, empowerment and education into our public benefits," it explained.
"This comprehensive approach is designed to emphasize the importance of civic engagement in the form of voting, census participation and advocacy in immigrant communities, regardless of their immigration status," IAC wrote. "IAC's immigration and citizenship program provides consultation on family-based U.S. immigration questions, assistance with applying for U.S. Citizenship, assistance with completing select family based immigration applications (and) deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) cases."
IAC also helps South Asian immigrants "applying for various forms of government assistance, including Medicaid, (food stamps), (the) senior free ride program and much more," it told the IRS, explaining that it was dedicated to combatting the "persistence of misinformation related to public benefits."
The IAC is one of “43 immigrant serving organizations in Illinois” that receive grants from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), which receives Illinois state taxpayer money through the Illinois Department of Human Services, then re-distributes it.
In 2021, the ICIRR gave the IAC $378,311.
IAC does not delineate whether this revenue is counted as a "government grant" or a grant from a private donor.
$25.5M in State of Illinois grants, commitments to the Indo-American Center
State of Illinois records show state support has soared since IAC made its last filing with the IRS.
State budget line items promise millions to build IAC a new headquarters, to help it build housing for members, and to fix its HVAC system.
In the 2023-24 fiscal year, IAC received $6.755 million in total commitments from state taxpayers, according to the state budget.
Of the total, $125,000 was promised for IAC operations and $6.63 million for IAC infrastructure.
In the 2024-25 fiscal year, state taxpayer commitments to IAC totaled $18.255 million.
Of the total, $625,000 was promised for IAC operations and $17.63 million for IAC infrastructure.
The state budget doesn't delineate it explicitly, but infrastructure grants that repeat in subsequent budgets, and are the same amount, can refer to grants that have been promised but have not been spent yet.
Records show that since 2019, IAC has received additional state grants from the Illinois Secretary of State and Illinois Treasurer totaling $442,983 for services it doesn't detail on its IRS filings.
In 2024, the IAC received a a $75,000 grant from the Illinois Secretary of State for “library services”
In 2023, the IAC received a a $75,000 grant from the Illinois Secretary of State for “library services” and an IAC “heritage museum” received an additional $100,000 grant from the State of Illinois through the Illinois Arts Council for “promotion of art.”
In 2022, IAC received a $55,000 grant from the Illinois Secretary of State for “library services.”
In 2021, the IAC received a $25,000 grant from the Illinois State Treasurer for “social services” and an additional $50,000 grant from the Illinois Secretary of State for “library services.”
In 2019, the IAC received a $2,500 grant from the Illinois State Treasurer for “social services” and a $69,483 grant from the Illinois Secretary of State for “library services.”
------
State of Illinois Budget Grants to the Indo-American Center
The following details all grants/commitments made to the Indo-American Center in the State of Illinois' 2023-24 and 2024-25 budgets.
2023-24
- $6 million in Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity "Build Illinois Bond Fund" grants for "capital improvements."
- A $500,000 Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity "Build Illinois Bond Fund" grant for "costs associated with infrastructure improvements."
- A $130,000 Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity "Build Illinois Bond Fund" grant for "costs associated with replacement of an HVAC system, building renovations and infrastructure improvements."
- A $125,000 "business development grant" from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
2024-25
- A $125,000 "business development grant" from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
- A $500,000 grant for "violence prevention programs, youth employment programs and operational expenses" from The Illinois Department of Human Services.
-$12 million in Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity "Build Illinois Bond Fund" grants for "capital improvements" and "costs associated with the Indo-American Center."
-$5 million in grants from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity "Rebuild Illinois Projects Fund" for "costs associated with building affordable housing for seniors and other infrastructure improvements."
- A $130,000 Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity "Build Illinois Bond Fund" grant for "costs associated with replacement of an HVAC system, building renovations and infrastructure improvements."
- A $500,000 Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity "Build Illinois Bond Fund" grant for "costs associated with infrastructure improvements."
Indo American Center Revenue, 2012-2022
10 years, 900 percent increase in government grants.
Source: Internal Revenue Service
Alerts Sign-up