Meet Amanda

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Recycling

Amanda joined the Michigan Recycling Coalition’s (MRC) Education Committee to contribute strategic communication skills to positively impact materials management improvements in Michigan. With an upcoming education grant and new state funding to improve materials recovery in Michigan, there is an unprecedented opportunity to push for a resilient circular economy in the Great Lakes state. Amanda also acts as an advisor to the MRC’s annual conference committee.

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Sustainable Transportation

Amanda uses her strategic thinking, communication skills, and advocacy background to support projects that improve sustainable transportation. She has partnered with the Greater Grand Rapids Bicycle Coalition, the local transit system, and the League of American Bicyclists to inspire behavior change, policy development, and program implementation.

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Mentoring

Amanda enjoys mentoring young people and helping them find their passions while becoming good stewards of our communities and environment. At The Rapid, she created two internship opportunities for young communications professionals to explore careers in public service. She also organized paid marketing and outreach internship programs in her role with Mobile GR. For this program, she partnered with Our Community’s Children’s local youth employment program to hire 7 local young people to staff events and booths on behalf of the department.

She and her partner host international students to encourage cross-cultural exchange and mentorship. Amanda was also a mentor at Burton Elementary through Affinity Mentorship for over five years.

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Organizational Development

Her strategic mind, collaborative spirit, and heart for service led Amanda to be selected for a variety of leadership roles. At RRS, she quickly advanced into the marketing role, helping align the companies communications and marketing with its professional and experienced work. With her business savvy and strategic skills, she helped the leadership identify new internal structures and processes to ensure long-term organizational growth.

She was elected to the Board of Directors of Alger Heights Neighborhood Association and became president shortly after. She coordinated attendance at the Neighborhood Leadership Academy (NLA) which provided the association with $1,500 to strengthen the core capacity and restore the organization’s nonprofit status.

Amanda also served on her union board and its bargaining committee. Through her efforts, the organization hired a part-time employee and initiated a comprehensive, member engagement strategy for the bargaining process resulting in the most successful contract the union had ever seen.

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Civic Duty

She is a self-described civic nerd. She volunteers for community events and often persuades her partner and friends into joining her. She adopts storm drains, picks up litter, reports infrastructure improvement needs to 311, offers to show people how to ride a bicycle or take the bus, and generally prefers to be a part of the solution through direct action.

Amanda signed up to be an election worker in 2014 and she’s never looked back! She has served as an election precinct chairperson and super chairperson for the past five years. She is a strong advocate for free and fair elections and has worked diligently to improve trust in the local election process.

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Arts and Culture

Amanda has a deep love for expressing and experiencing creativity. You may find her behind a sewing machine in the costume shop at the Civic Theatre preparing for the next production or donning handmade earrings from a local artist. She enjoys performing on stage and volunteering behind the scenes.