A headshot of a smiling woman with short, dark, curly hair. She is wearing a light-colored blazer, possibly white or cream with a subtle vertical stripe, over a dark shirt. She is also wearing a delicate necklace with small, round charms. The background is a solid, dark gray.
Amanda is the Executive Director of Homeless and Housing Services at Catholic Charities
of the Archdiocese of Washington, one of the largest non-profit service providers in our
region. She joined Catholic Charities in June 2016, in that time she has implemented a
number of changes to focus her 15 shelter and housing programs towards best practice to
achieve better outcomes for those served by Catholic Charities. She collaborates with non-
profit and government regional partners within the District of Columbia, Montgomery, Prince George’s, St. Mary’s, Charles and Calvert counties in Maryland to improve policy and
practice to better serve the families and individuals experiencing poverty and
homelessness. Amanda is a councilmember on the Interagency Council of Homelessness
(ICH) for the District of Columbia (2018-current) and previously as a commissioner of ICH
of Montgomery County, MD (2018-2024).

Her expertise as a clinical social worker, with an emphasis on behavioral health, homeless
and housing best practices, social work leadership, partnerships, and non-profit
management, make her a respected and sought-after expert, collaborator, and speaker,
with extensive experience working with private, non-profit, local and federal government
agencies. Amanda is passionate about supporting the people in this work and educating
the next generation of social workers.

Previously, she served as the Clinical Director and Senior Director of Housing Programs at a
DC nonprofit where she led Housing First family shelters, transitional and permanent
housing programs. Her social work clinical career spanned a variety of social service
disciplines and settings, including youth psychiatric crisis assessment and treatment on
Chicago’s South Side, her hometown. She’s overseen of care for inpatient behavioral
treatment facilities across the Midwest, led quality improvement and training at nonprofits
and provided school-based mental health programming in DC public and charter schools.

Amanda is a proud first-generation college graduate and forth generation Mexican
American. She holds a Master of Social Work from Loyola University Chicago and an
Independent Clinical Social Work license in the District of Columbia and Maryland.

A 17-year resident of the DMV, Amanda lives with her husband Devin and two kids in
Maryland.