- Name / Pronouns: I go by Amanda with most folks, but my family calls me Etta [she/her]
- From: I grew up in the Midwest of the United States in Upper Michigan (the U.P.). I'm a Yooper and I sometimes say 'eh. I also spent a lot of time in Chicago as a kid.
- Bouncing Around: After undergrad I was in the Peace Corps in Tanzania for 2 years, followed by 2 years in Denver, then 4 years in Aspen.
- Home 🏡: I moved to Seattle in 2017 and happily plan to call it home for years to come.
- Career: My LinkedIn profile has the best summary of where i've worked and the roles i've held. At my core I am a community strategist. I have about 10 years of experience in B2B & B2C industries building and managing tech communities that increase product engagement through scalable collaboration. I'm also working on my Master's in Communications Leadership at the University of Washington with a focus on Communities and Networks (exp. graduation Dec., 2022). I am passionate about connecting people and building programs that create and nurture diverse communities. (A bunch of this is just copy/paste from my LinkedIn so it may read a little stuffy 😆)
I thrive in fast-paced environments, and love working with creative, driven teams to achieve big ambitious goals. I enjoy campaign strategy & design, content development, program management, community management, champion programs, and brand management.
🎧 Focus Time: I need focus blocks with little to no distractions at various points in the week. I'm pretty good about blocking these on my calendar, and noting them in my slack status. That being said - If I have a focus block and you need an urgent response please don't hesitate to DM me on Slack.
📆 Scheduled Meetings:I like to schedule as many meetings and 1:1s as possible on the same days. Cognitive switching between focused work & 1:1s is not great for me, and I have found this helpful. For Fall 2022: Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays are best. If you want to meet synchronously, please look for a time of those days first.
🏢 Office: I prefer to come into the office rather than WFH. If you're in the GitHub Bellevue office come say hi! 👋🏻 I sit on the west side of the 20th floor by the window.
- Slack DMs > Everything: I check Slack most frequently. This is followed by my calendar, then GitHub notifications, then last and least frequent, email. I check everything at least 1/day though ...
- Really urgent/emergency
⚠️ : Text, WhatsApp me if needed. Please DM me for my phone number if you don't already have it. - 1:1s with Community Engagement: We should plan to meet at leat 1/week for 45 mins. I keep shared Google docs with everyone and update in every meeting. Look for a time on Wednesday or Thursday if possible (especially re-occuring meetings).
- 1:1s with eveyone else: I'm happy to connect with folks on my work, all things community engagement, etc. Please DM me and find a time on my calendar to connect. If the time is very early/late PST: I am happy yo accomodate, just please give me more than 24hours notice. Thank you!
- Working Sessions 👷🏻♀️ : I am happy to move things around for longer focused working session with sthe Community team + others with and will make myself available to meet earlier/later than my typical working hours. I find these immensely helpful. Just DM me and we can sort it out.
- Career Conversations 🚀: Community Engagement team: Plan to meet quarterly at least and monthly at most to discuss career growth. We'll use your IDP to structure these conversations, and then let it go organically from there. Here is the IDP template
- Things I am actively working on: Prioritization & time management (this remains a lifelong journey), learning GitHub, learning BI tools (Power BI & Tableau), tightening up my writing - making all forms or writing more clear & condense, efforts to support a diverse & inclusive team, company, & community.
- Here is my IDP
- Candor: I am open and accepting to direct feedback and give honest and supportive feedback and guidance to my team and peers. I am not afraid of difficult conversations.
- Rapid Processing: I often "get" interpersonal and conceptual things fast. If I need further guidance or clarification I will ask for it, but I am often right with someone and ready to go. I am aware that there is a risk here that this can appear as folding to someone else's direction, so I am actively working to validate that I understand what has been communicated before moving on.
- Inspirtaion: Jed Bartlett ala The West Wing - "What's Next" - It's a motivational quote, In the show his team learns to understand that these two words mean he's ready to move on to the next task and it keeps the momentum of the team going..
- Bumps & Bruises: I'm physically active and also pretty accident prone. I will show up with bumps and bruises, and I don't mind if you ask about them. Respecting that physcial injuries are serious, and in some cases they could be perceived as an indicator that I am in a situation where I may be at risk or am being hurt, this is not the case for me. If I show up with a black eye it's most likely from a crash on my mountain bike, or a surfboard. (This has happened, I have photos, I will show you).
- Mental Health: I am a huge advocate for mental health and have a great relationship with my therapist. I see them regularly, and try to schedule appointments at the end of the day to not derail or take me away from work-brain-space. I am available to talk about my experience on a surface level, and help share information and resources I have found useful, but am mindful to not take on a peer-or-manager-therapist role in a working relationship. There are much more qualified people ready to help, but let me know if you're unsure of where to start.
- Quotes: "A rising tide lifts all boats." - JFK
- Books: Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi, anything & everything by N.K. Jemisin, period dramas (ala Jane Austen, George Elliott, etc.), and a lot of books for school. I'm really into YA Fantasy right now as an escape. I've recently read the, A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Mass, and am now onto the Thrown of Glass series. They're not the best - also not the worst. Happy to discuss :)
- Podcasts: Just about everything on NPR, On Being with Krista Tippett, Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman
- News: In addition to all the NPR, read the New York Times, the Seattle Times, and the BBC. I enjoy consuming information, and listening to people much smarter me. I'm also on Twitter too much .. and enjoy r/aww
- Hobbies: I am active outdoors (mountain biking, hiking, sometimes city running, snowboarding, camping, etc.) Give me fresh air, big trees & birds and I am happy. I also watch a lot of soccer & have a growing affection for sneakers 👟
- Social: I am social and like spending time with friends & loved ones. I go to a lot of concerts, soccer games, bars & restaurants, etc. I love cooking for people!