From Babysitter to Candidate for Congress: Sanjyot Dunung’s ‘Made in America’ Campaign for Illinois’s 8th District

When Sanjyot Dunung was six years old, her family arrived in Des Plaines, Illinois from India with little more than determination and the promise of the American Dream. They lived with friends until her parents could afford their own apartment. By age nine, inspired by her parents’ relentless work ethic, young Sanjyot had started babysitting. By ten, she had launched what she calls her first “business”—caring for toddlers on Sunday mornings while their parents attended services.

Now 49, Dunung is running for Congress in Illinois’s 8th Congressional District with a campaign message distilled to a single phrase: “I was born in India, but Made in America.”

The Race to Succeed Krishnamoorthi

Dunung announced her candidacy on May 14, 2025, entering what has become a crowded field to succeed four-term Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, who announced in May that he would run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Dick Durbin. The 8th District, which includes Des Plaines, Elgin, Schaumburg, and parts of St. Charles, Geneva, and Kane County, as well as sections of Cook and DuPage counties, has been rated “Solid Democratic” by the Cook Political Report.

The Democratic primary field includes Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison of Mount Prospect, Hanover Park Trustee Yasmeen Bankole (both former Krishnamoorthi staffers), brand executive Christ Kallas, tech consultant Junaid Ahmed, attorney Dan Tully, and former U.S. Representative Melissa Bean (who represented the district from 2005-2011). Reportedly, another Indian American, Neil Khot, is also seeking the Democratic nomination.

On the Republican side, business owner Mark Rice, attorney Kevin Ake, Jennifer Davis, and others have filed to run. The primary election is scheduled for March 17, 2026, with the general election on November 3, 2026, according to Ballotpedia.

“People Are Tired of Career Politicians”

Dunung’s campaign positioning is deliberate and pointed. “I’m running for Congress because the American Dream is under threat,” she told news outlets. “People are tired of career politicians who fail to deliver meaningful results. As the candidate for change, I will deliver fresh, responsible ideas to tackle economic chaos and uncertainty.”

In her announcement, Dunung said: “I’m a small business owner and proud mother of three sons, including one in the military. In a time of real chaos and frustration with the status quo, I am the change candidate stepping up to fight for the American Dream and put people over politics.”

Dunung is the CEO and founder of Atma Global, an award-winning developer of innovative learning content and solutions focusing on countries, cultures, business, and global topics for corporate, government, education, and travel markets.

Her campaign website emphasizes that she “is not a career politician” but rather “a proven, innovative, award-winning entrepreneur and EdTech small business founder dedicated to expanding learning opportunities for all.”

The Educational Foundation

Dunung holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern University and an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management (now part of Arizona State University), where she received the Distinguished Alumni Award. The Truman Center for National Policy noted that she is a Professor of Practice at Thunderbird and serves on the Advisory Board of the Thunderbird Global Alumni Network.

Building Atma Global: An Award-Winning EdTech Business

According to her company website, Dunung is the CEO and founder of Atma Global, an award-winning developer of innovative learning content and solutions focusing on countries, cultures, business, and global topics for corporate, government, education, and travel markets. The company, based in New York City, has won multiple prestigious awards. According to the company website, the firm provides cultural advisory services to Fortune 100 companies and public institutions, advising on the impact of culture on their global strategies and operations.

Dunung is also a prolific author, having written sixteen international business books and textbooks, according to multiple sources including the Truman Center and her campaign materials. She has written for Forbes and Fast Company, with her February 2025 Fast Company article addressing “How to innovate diversity for a changing global world.”

Dunung also served on President Joe Biden’s Foreign Policy Working Group focused on international trade. Her campaign materials note she was a 2021 recipient of the Asian American Business Development Center (AABDC) Outstanding 50 in Business award.

The Single Mother Story

According to news reports, Dunung raised three sons as a single mother while simultaneously caring for an aging father and a mother with muscular dystrophy—a lived experience that deeply informs her policy platform. One of her sons currently serves in the U.S. military, making her part of what she calls “a patriotic military family.”

“Rooted in the values she learned from being raised in Des Plaines, Sanjyot raised three kids, juggled taking care of her aging and disabled parents while running a small business,” according to her campaign materials quoted by multiple outlets. “She’s worked with folks from all walks of life to strengthen this community.”

Key Endorsements

Dunung has secured several significant endorsements, including from Hindu American PAC and ASPIRE PAC (Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders Rising & Empowering Political Action Committee), the political arm of the Democratic Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Members of Congress.

While Dunung has secured endorsements, she faces significant fundraising challenges. According to Shaw Local, reporting on multiple Democratic campaigns in the district, “Six of the eight Democrats and the sole Republican currently seeking to succeed Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg in the 8th Congressional District already have built six-figure campaign war chests.” It is likely that Dunung may be relying on grassroots fundraising and personal investment rather than institutional Democratic Party support, consistent with her positioning as an outsider candidate.

The “Made in America” Narrative

India West observed that “Dunung’s candidacy is rooted not just in policy, but in story. Her journey—from delivering newspapers in college to leading innovative startups, from raising three sons as a single mother to influencing national trade policy—reflects a uniquely American narrative.”

The publication quoted Dunung: “My life was Made in America. This campaign was Made in America. It could not have happened anywhere else.”

This messaging deliberately distinguishes her from Krishnamoorthi, who was also born in India (New Delhi in 1973) but came to the U.S. as an infant and was raised primarily in Peoria, Illinois. By emphasizing she arrived at age six and grew up in Des Plaines—within the district she seeks to represent—Dunung positions herself as having deeper roots in the community.