Amanda was a teacher and instructional coach in Los Angeles Unified School District for 11 years. In 2007, she began working with pre-service teachers as a faculty member at CalStateTEACH, a teacher preparation program of the California State University. During this time, she also worked with new teachers through the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment program (BTSA) with Los Angeles County Office of Education. In addition, Amanda has worked abroad with the non-profit CHEER for Viet Nam, conducting workshops for teachers of English in central Viet Nam. She currently serves on the board of this organization. She received her Doctorate degree in Education from UCLA in 2006. Her dissertation was entitled, "Peer-mentoring for Newcomer Immigrant Students."