A Letter from our Executive Director

Dear CLC community,

I officially assume the role of Executive Director of Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights on January 28th, and I’m deeply grateful for the trust placed in me at this moment.

This past week reminded all of us what’s at stake. Federal agents killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. The federal government is now fighting in court to deny due process to victims and their families. Democracy is in danger — and the very tools meant to protect people are being weaponized against them. 

But we are not helpless. No matter how we feel right now.

My parents immigrated to the United States from India in the 1970s. Growing up, I always knew we were fighting to belong. Except on Election Days. Election Days are etched in my memory. 

On those mornings, my dad and I would walk together to Jefferson Junior High - our polling place. He walked with purpose. I was jumpy with excitement. On those days, we belonged completely. 

The right to vote is sacred because it is the scaffolding surrounding the right to belong. That's what's at stake right now. Not just access to the ballot, but whether people get to belong in their own democracy. 

At Chicago Lawyers’ Committee, we use the law to hold the line on the promise that everyone belongs. 

Not because litigation solves everything. But because, right now, when federal power is being weaponized and communities are under attack, litigation is working, forcing the government to follow procedure, and create space for communities to organize. 

This is exactly when that work matters most. And when it’s hardest to do. 

An equitable, multiracial democracy requires more than access to the ballot box. It requires the right to live free from discrimination— access to safe housing, high-quality public education, and basic goods and services without facing barriers. 

For too many people, those barriers are not accidental but a result of systems that are designed to exclude. The right to live free from individual and systemic discrimination is, at its core, the right to belong and what we are still fighting for today. 

That is the work of Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. 

It is an immense privilege to work alongside our staff to defend, protect, and advance civil rights in our city, state, and region. Every day our team shows up for people who have been told they do not belong. Every day they fight against the systems that exclude marginalized communities by protecting the rule of law and advocating for stronger and fairer policies so that we can build something greater.  

In a home next to yours, there are neighbors fighting to belong; a family working to build a better future for their children. There is a voter wanting to cast their ballot, free from barriers. 

We work for them, and it is only possible because of you.  
 

With gratitude, 

Venu Gupta 
Executive Director 
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights