Our Organization

The Indian-American Leadership Initiative (IALI) is a network of Indian-American progressives and Democrats that that seeks to:

  1. Support and Connect
  2. Promote
  3. Invest in Indian-American Democrats.

IALI continues to grow its network as the Indian-American community itself grows. Our community is one of the fastest-growing, wealthiest, and best-educated immigrant groups in the United States. According to the 2000 United States Census Bureau, there are almost 1.7 million Indian-Americans in the country. That’s over a hundred percent growth since the 1990 Census.

Founded in 2000 by Varun Nikore, a former Clinton appointee and Gore-Lieberman campaign staffer, IALI began as a bipartisan organization supporting the election and appointments of Indian-Americans. In 2005, the Board of Directors decided to refocus IALI’s mission to support, promote, and invest in Indian-American Democrats and progressives.

During its history, IALI has hosted political training conferences in San Francisco and Washington, DC. In 2004, IALI hosted a conference on “lessons learned” from three Indian-American Democratic candidates that ran for Congress in 1994. Currently, IALI has a database of 3,500 active progressive Indian-Americans.

©2007 Indian American Leadership Initiative. All Rights Reserved.