Anita Banerji

Anita Banerji is Senior Director of Strategy and External Relations, Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation. She previously served as consultant to The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, focused on 2020 Census data dissemination and 2030 planning, as well as leading digital equity outreach efforts for the Emergency Broadband (EBB) program, a temporary, federal assistance program in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Previously, Anita directed the Illinois Count Me In 2020 program composed of a statewide funders' collaborative of 22 IL Foundations and a nonprofit coalition of more than 50 IL organizations through Forefront's Democracy Initiative. In this role she worked closely with the City of Chicago, Cook County, the State of Illinois and numerous philanthropy and nonprofit organizations. She also served as a City of Chicago Complete Count Committee Member and was an appointed member to the Cook County Complete Count Census Commission. Over the course of two decades, Anita has worked on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. and the Illinois State Government, as well as the larger nonprofit sector. Anita has also lobbied on the sugary sweetened beverage campaign through the American Heart Association for Cook County and the State of Illinois. Prior to that, she served as Legislative Director for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. She holds a master’s degree in communications from DePaul University and a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a 2019 Edgar Fellows Alum, a 2010 Illinois Women’s Institute in Leadership (IWIL) alum, and has dedicated volunteer capacity to candidates running for office locally, statewide and nationwide.