Desi grew up in the Eastern Bloc of communist Europe in Bulgaria and was two years old when the Berlin wall fell. She was abandoned in the streets as a baby and lived in an orphanage until being adopted in the mid-90s at age 7 and moved to the Pacific Northwest of the United States.
Desi was not allowed to go to school in Bulgaria, and yet after teaching herself English, excelled as a student from grade school in Oregon to a double major degree at Indiana University. After her early education, she dedicated her life to serving in non-profits around the world with time spent serving with the United Nations and in places including Uganda, Sudan, Geneva, and Guatemala.
As a missionary in Guatemala Desi learned Spanish and served the poorest of the poor in Guatemala City, helping build homes, working for economic justice, and combating the criminal takeover of neighborhoods over a period of years before returning to the U.S. She served as a U.S. Congressional Intern in Washington D.C. and was married in 2019 to her husband Nick. They own an agricultural-tourism venue, small business in McLean County and had their first child in 2021, their son Vano.
“I had an upbringing that many people cannot relate to, and I always dreamed of coming to the United States, admiring what I heard about it as a child. In every way I am now living the American Dream, and it is my heartfelt desire to see that not slip away from people in these current times. I am running to give people hope that their voice matters again, that career politicians do not have to have undue influence on our families. Central Illinois has become home for me, and I want to be someone that the great people of this area, big business, and small business can entrust to fight for them and care about them on issues that really matter and increasingly directly affect our lives.” – Desi Anderson
In less than two decades of my adult life I have watched our beautiful country be transformed for the worse and put on a trajectory that is unsustainable economically, while our liberties have been encroached. There is a crisis of leadership at the local and state levels in IL, who have not only passively allowed this to happen, but have actively caused harm.
As a new mom and small business owner I cannot avoid the fact that if those of us who love our freedom, our neighborhoods, our businesses, and our families do not stand up and take our country back from career politicians and anti-American ideals, then my son’s future will look more like the Communist world I was born into, than the country I dreamed of coming to. I will be a voice of and for the people who love our Republic, its rich history, and its hopeful future. In a polarized society I want to unify people around things that are good and true and right and use that same unified spirit to stand up to the corruption and self-interest that is causing families to leave our great state at record rates.
The 91st House district is one of the more important districts in our state. We have the opportunity of a lifetime to protect what is sacred to us, preserve what has been built and promote a broad spectrum of beauty and goodness that we have been blessed with.
Husband (Nick) Son (Vano 3 years old)
Desi has been shaped by her experience internationally, working in IDP (Internal Displacement of People) camps for the United Nations in South Sudan during the Darfur genocides. Serving in the midst of a public health crisis became personal to her as she got sick with malaria and nearly died from the lack of inadequate health care infrastructure and supplies.
Desi’s main role in Sudan was teaching health sanitation classes to those living in IDP camps, so the personal bout with Malaria and West Nile Virus heightened her awareness of the crucial needs and later in life would make her thankful for the care available in the United States.
After Sudan she went to Uganda to help HIV orphans and was exposed to the realities of child gang and violence recruitment and family disintegration as a result of poverty, crime, and government corruption.
Desi’s next major project in 2008 was working on a documentary of her personal adoption story, ‘Love Knows No Borders’ collaborating with the Vice Minister of Bulgaria and All God’s Children International (AGCI) addressing the crisis of older children permanently orphaned in institutional care. One of the main focuses was requesting age requirement changes for child abandonment that would allow international adoption to happen more efficiently and at older ages, making it more accessible for families across the world to adopt from Bulgaria.
From 2010 to 2014 Desi lived in Guatemala, relocating to work in an orphanage home in Guatemala City. Her time there quickly escalated to running an all-encompassing mission, working specifically with prevention and restoration. Prevention included family support, kid’s scholarships, providing social care services, addiction counseling, and working on reform for immigration policy. Restoration involved working with orphaned children on mental health counseling, abuse recovery, and family unification. She led community development efforts to build homes for families and was exposed to crime syndicates including MS13 where children were encouraged to disconnect from family for a life of crime.
Desi moved back to the United States in 2015 and was involved as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) working with courts in Indiana and advocating for children being raised in various environments. She separately worked with educators to help emerge Spanish speaking students into the classroom in the midst of a large migrant population in southern Indiana.