IGNITE is growing! We're thrilled to introduce you to our new team member, Amanda Conlee (she/her/hers). Stepping into the role of Chief Operations Officer, Amanda brings 12 years of experience managing the internal operations, administration, and financial aspects of small businesses and nonprofit organizations. We sat down with Amanda to get to know more about what motivates her.
IGNITE: What draws you to this work?
Amanda: Without a doubt, what draws me to this work is the opportunity to empower and uplift young people and help give a platform to marginalized voices. I've worked in a few different types of organizations across my career with this being the common denominator, and it's where I find the most joy professionally. Young people are often overlooked, and I know they bring more to the table than most folx realize - I've seen it so many times. I've always appreciated how young people push the boundaries. They force us to think outside of the traditional way of doing things - and through this, we can really move the needle.
IGNITE: What hopes do you hold for young women's political leadership?
Amanda: I hope that one day every young woman will see herself represented in political leadership. Over the last few years, we've come a long way with the increase in female elected officials (like the SQUAD), but there is still so far to go. Representation matters, period. As a queer woman from the rural South, I know firsthand how this can impact a young woman. Whether that's identifying with someone through race, ethnic background, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious belief, or even just, "hey, I grew up in a small town in NC too!" - all of it matters to some young girl out there and seeing someone in power who reflects their personal experience back to them will give a young woman the confidence to believe that she can achieve that goal too.
IGNITE: What's something fun or unique you want the IGNITE community to know about you?
Amanda: I'm an avid hiker! Most Saturdays are spent on a mountain somewhere. My wife and I have a really close group of badass female friends that we explore national parks with every year. So far, we're at 11 parks. My current favorite is Glacier! I also have the cutest dog in the whole, whole world. He - Kolby - would get upset if I didn't mention that.
IGNITE: Any closing thoughts?
Amanda: I had great role models growing up who taught me to be a strong, confident, impactful woman, and I hope to be that for someone else too. I believe with all my heart that women have the power to change the world, and I will enthusiastically take every chance available to me to be part of that change.
Amanda Conlee brings 12 years of experience managing the internal operations, administration, and financial aspects of small businesses and nonprofit organizations. Most recently, Amanda served as the Director of Operations for March For Our Lives. As the young organization's first professional hire in January 2019, Amanda helped MFOL create the existing infrastructure, design and implement processes across departments to ensure efficiency, transparency, and compliance, and build a sustainable organization that could support the youth gun violence prevention movement. She also spent five years as the Director of Operations at Get Lit-Words Ignite in Los Angeles, CA, helping grow the small arts education nonprofit from a staff of three with a $300K annual operating budget to a staff of nine with a budget of over $1.3M. Amanda holds a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from the University of North Carolina. Contact Amanda at amanda@ignitenational.org.