Born and raised in Denver and a graduate of Denver’s West High School, Amanda’s passion for youth advocacy and social change has been her north star over the past 22 years. Her drive is rooted in the indigenous Nahuatl word tiahui, which roughly means to move, change, or go forward. With the belief that education can get one out of their situation, her commitment to empowerment and movement has always been focused on young people of color in Denver and Adams counties.  

She serves, and has served, in various positions including a high school principal, Moonshot edVentures School Launcher fellow, gang outreach and violence response with GRASP, field-based mental health with the Mental Health Center of Denver, youth mentoring with the Latino Coalition, special education teacher and program development with Adams 14 School District, a board member of Adelante Mujer Inc., and she has taught all content areas in secondary education. Her true passion is special education law, where she specializes in serving teens with affective needs and significant mental health disabilities. An experienced educational leader with a demonstrated history of working in the fields of school leadership, behavior management, special education, linguistically diverse education, and building teacher leaders, Amanda works to continuously develop school policy to increase authentic learning opportunities for underestimated youth. Amanda has worked with partners at Be The Change Community School, Denver North High school, KIPP Northeast Leadership Academy, Colorado Department of Education, Cambridge Street Upper School, Prospect Academy, and more.    

A first generation college graduate, Amanda holds a B.A. from Metropolitan State University in Special Education and Linguistically Diverse Education and an M.A. from the University of Northern Colorado in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and Special Education Administration. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education in Leadership for Educational Equity concentrating in Urban & Diverse Communities at the University of Denver. Her research interests include equitable school discipline practices for students of color in large charter networks, meaningful multicultural education, educating in third spaces, and anti-racism as practice in public schools.