Ami Gandhi is the Director of Strategic Initiatives and Midwest Voting Rights Program, formulating and implementing strategies for Chicago Lawyers’ Committee’s growth. She works to reduce barriers to voting and improve civic participation, especially in communities of color and low-income communities in the Midwest. Ami’s experience includes leading statewide voter protection for the 2016 and 2020 elections, partnering with community members in the criminal legal system to expand voter access, advocating for communities of color during Illinois redistricting, and advising local election authorities as they implemented the first Hindi ballots in the country. Her experience includes litigating cases in Illinois and Indiana and partnering with communities to write and pass legislation. She previously worked as the Executive Director of South Asian American Policy & Research Institute (SAAPRI), as the Legal Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago, and as a commercial litigation attorney at Freeborn & Peters LLP.

Ami participates in the Law, Politics, and Civic Engagement Think Tank with incarcerated community members at Stateville Correctional Center. She serves on the Planning Committee for DePaul University’s Institute for Restorative Educational Engagement (IREE), which focuses on currently and formerly incarcerated students. She also serves on the boards of Count US Indiana, Common Cause Indiana, and Indiana Justice Project.

Ami has received awards from Indiana University, the South Asian Bar Association of North America, Chicago Fair Trade, and NAACP Chicago Far South Suburban Branch.

Pronouns: she/her/hers