Demian Kogan

Demian Kogan has been Senior Director of Organizing for the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) since 2016 and has over 20 years of community organizing experience. 

For three consecutive generations, Demian and the members of his family were forced to move from their respective home countries due to political oppression and authoritarianism. Demian has organized ICIRR members to eliminate immigration detention in Illinois, ban collaboration between local police enforcement and federal immigration enforcement across the state, expand eligibility to direct cash assistance to low-income Illinois residents and more. Demian and his team at ICIRR oversaw the grassroots resistance and successful advancement of immigration protections during the Trump Administration's "Midway Blitz" operation in Chicago and throughout Illinois. ICIRR anchored a network of close to 40 rapid response teams statewide, and passed a legislative package of new protections for Illinois residents against the U.S. federal government's detention and deportation pipeline. 

Demian has worked alongside ordinary people to build extraordinary power to impact working families and low-income communities of color across Illinois.