Amara is a problem-solver, advocate, PhD holder, triathlon competitor, daughter of activists and defender of the public with a passion for public policy.
Never one to settle for the status quo, Amara believes in thinking outside the box, challenging systems, and building new ones that reflect values that put the public interest first.
She co-authored the book “Chicago Isn’t Broke: Funding the City We Deserve” which proposes fiscally responsible revenue-generating proposals for the City as well as ways to eliminate corruption and waste in city government. She is a staunch advocate for transparency in city government and equity as a matter of policy.
Amara’s goal is to help communities, especially challenged communities to unlock their civic imagination so they are empowered to create the solutions that address the city’s most pressing issues. She has worked in city government, managed a municipality, run non-profits, and worked at the grassroots level where she has always served as a bridge-builder and advocate.
On the police killing of 16 year old Laquan McDonald, she says “Gray wisps of smoke emanating from dark concrete. That’s what I remember from the sliver of video of the police killing of 16-year-old Laquan McDonald. I couldn’t watch the actual shooting, my familiarity with Black death wouldn’t allow it.” She said but, she opened her eyes just as those thin wisps began to dissipate in the cool of the night air; wisps from gunshots, 16 of them, emptied into the body of a youth “failed by almost all of our societal systems. He lost his life at the hands of a state-sanctioned actor who couldn’t care less. Defund the police.” She states.
When she says “Defund the Police”, she means “it is not solely a declaration of what we don’t want (more police spending). It represents our ability to imagine higher and better uses of those resources in ways that build stronger, more resilient individuals and communities, such as investing in things like education, public health, housing, and equitable economic growth opportunities”. Says Amara.
