Hello, I'm Amber.

I'm an energetic nonprofit and corporate citizenship leader with more than two decades of nonprofit management experience. I'm passionate about philanthropy, activism and public service, travel, photography, and community engagement. You'll almost always find me with a cup of coffee nearby, and I love chatting about politics, volunteer management, travel, economic development, and fundraising. I currently live, work, and brunch in Austin, Texas after spending time in Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. 

I love learning.

I'm a proud graduate of the University of Texas at Austin (hook 'em), and I completed my master’s at Georgetown University (hoya saxa). In 2020, I finished a certificate program at Cornell University in Women’s Entrepreneurship and recently completed both the Landit for CDFI Women Fellowship and CDFI Women’s Network Anti-Racism series. I've had the honor of being a 2016 Bank of America Neighborhood Builder Emerging Leader and 2007 Fellow of Georgetown University's Engalitcheff Institute of Comparative Political and Economic Systems.  In the recent past, I participated in the Clinton Global Initiative University, received an Excellence Award from the American Red Cross, and was honored as a Rising Star by the Association of Enterprise Opportunity. I’m a 2020 graduate of Leadership Austin’s essential program and a Future Leaders in Philanthropy Honoree. Lifelong learning keeps us connected to new information, our communities, and one another.

I love philanthropy and creating opportunity.

My career has focused on harnessing corporate citizenship and growing nonprofit capacity to create economic opportunity and ladders out of poverty. I’m currently leading stakeholder engagement (philanthropy, capital acquisition, community engagement, and communications) for a community development finance nonprofit - working to help them scale their mission nationally. In the recent past, I managed community reinvestment and nonprofit engagement for a regional bank. Prior to my corporate social responsibility role, I spent the last decade scaling communications, development, and programs for a statewide nonprofit with a financial opportunity mission. I’ve worked in volunteer management, policy research and advocacy, communications, operations, and advancement - all within the public sector.

Over the course of my career, I've worked for, collaborated with, or served on the boards of several nonprofit organizations including: the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, the American Red Cross, PeopleFund, Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry, Let's Overcome Vision Impairment, Goodwill Industries, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, The American Cancer Society, Phoenix Arising Aviation Academy (STEM), the Texas Stars Foundation, the CDFI climate crisis working group, the City of Austin corporate engagement council, the Financial Literacy Coalition of Central Texas (now Financial Health Pathways), the Movember Foundation, Texas Association of Community Development Corporations, Veteran Business Project, On the Road Lending, Economic Growth Business Incubator (EGBI), Business Community Lenders of Texas (BCL), We Aim High, Heroes Night Out, and others. I love working with charities and meeting new people who share a mission focus.

I love Austin.

I've lived in rural towns and big cities, but Austin has stolen my heart. I love the wonderful eclectic mix of hippies, health-nuts,  and kind strangers who call Central Texas home. From outstanding culture to the best food you'll ever eat, Austin is amazing y'all.

I love getting out of Austin.

Sometimes you can't beat the heat. I enjoy traveling and I've been fortunate enough to visit several countries and experience new cultures. I'm a hobbyist photographer and enjoy capturing moments, landscapes, and the world around me. So far I've been to Japan, England, France, Spain, Germany, Mexico, Canada, Uruguay, Argentina, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands…and I'm ready to pack my bag for more!

I love knowledge-sharing and impact.

Learning the ropes of the nonprofit world can be tough, so by sharing my experiences, I hope my peers in public service can stay excited about mission-based work. I’ve been lucky to work with organizations who are amiable to a trial-by-fire approach and I’ve learned a lot from fellowships, conferences, coffee chats, and impact sessions. I’m available to bounce ideas, answer questions, and share my experience to help others on their path to impact-driven careers.

I know we can’t have it all.

In this season of my professional and personal life, I’m learning how to juggle motherhood, community, and career. I have deep and profound empathy for fellow working moms, and I am grateful to anyone who has lifted a portion of the work load for another woman. It should be easier than it is, but we are all doing the best we can.