Ankur moved to Cicero in 2018. Originally from Bloomington, Illinois, he came to Cicero to work for a non-profit that assisted new immigrants to grow roots in Chicago. He soon after co-founded Cicero Independiente, a local bilingual news outlet to meet the information needs of Cicero residents.

Last summer, like many Cicero residents, his home flooded. Four feet of water destroyed everything. The floods prompted him to unite with other Cicero neighbors to advocate for more investments in flood prevention and successfully pushed the town to plant additional trees and green alleys. The experience prompted him to run for office in Cicero, to expand the services and resources our town can offer to residents, bring transparency to our community, and remove barriers to civic engagement.

As a journalist his work has been published in The Washington Post, In These Times, the Chicago Reader, Truthout, Pacific-Standard, The Progressive, and more. Outside of Cicero he works as a union organizer fighting for better working conditions and improved care for doctors and patients in the healthcare system. When he’s not working he can be seen running and biking around Cicero or in his garden.